Independent Study: 5 Regency Dresses

If you've been on my instagram lately, you might have seen the sneak peeks I've been giving of my independent study this semester. Well, here is the reveal! The Historical Society of Old Yarmouth is allowing me to study 5 late 18th century and early 19th century dresses which they recently acquired. Here are my…

A Regency Picnic

Happily, not all the costume events were canceled this year. Caitlin, The Victorian Archivist, hosted a socially-distanced regency picnic this Labor Day weekend at Saratoga Spa State Park through the Empire State Costumers group on Facebook. In all, six of us attended so it was quite perfect. It was so lovely to meet new people…

The Regency Redingote Project: Research – Fabrics and Colors

*Please note that the original title of this project was “The Regency Spencer Project”, and that post titles have been updated with the name “The Regency Redingote Project” to reflect the evolution of the project* This post was originally written about a year and a half ago, so my updates about the project regarding the…

Sewing Historic Clothing Research: A Beginner’s Guide Part I

Photo by Author A few months ago, Ayana (aka The Vintage Guidebook), and I connected on Instagram, and we began messaging. She asked me for information on how to go about researching re-creating historical clothing, and so I asked if we could co-author a blog post on it. This is not a new subject in…

Wet Cleaning an Infant Shirt for Conservation Part 2: IDing and Dating the Object

23 SEP-22 OCT 2019Supervisor: Professor Rebecca Kelly for TMD 538, University of Rhode Island I had some hunches about what periods this shirt might be from based on the pieces being cut from geometric shapes. It resembled my 1810s chemise I made, as well as patterns I have seen for reproducing 18th century Western European…

Bonfit Patterner System from 1995

In the Vintage Sewing Pattern Nerds Facebook group, there is a unit on antique pattern drafting systems. As I saw the content being uploaded, I mentioned that it seemed similar to the much younger Bonfit Patterner. Since not everyone is familiar with Bonfit, I am sharing my small collection of Bonfit materials. I have not…

Saturday Sartorial Cinema: “Pattern for Smartness” (1948)

This week's installment of Saturday Sartorial Cinema is an approximately 18 minute 1948 film called "Pattern for Smartness" by Simplicity Pattern Company. I chose this one because it is not only amusing, it can be educational for anyone stuck at home and attempting to learn to sew clothing for the first time. The educational parts…

Research: Guide to Sewing Slips

This post is meant to complement a project I am working on for my other blog, What Would Nancy Drew Wear? I am replacing a wardrobe staple, a bias-cut (silk) slip. Even though I am using a modern pattern, I wanted to consult my vintage sewing manuals to see what advice they had to offer…

Self-Fashioning and Jane Austen 2: The Mystery of the Surplice Gown

This is a series of posts exploring quotes from Jane Austen's letters which reference fashion and dress. "I have had my new gown made up, and it really makes a very superb surplice. I am sorry to say that my new coloured gown is very much washed out, though I charged everybody to take great…

Self-Fashioning and Jane Austen 1

Dear readers, my spring semester is a few weeks shy of being over, and I have barely been able to post because of a research project I am working on. I have been doing a content analysis of Jane Austen's letters to explore how she navigated her identity through dress. I cannot write more here,…