Gosh! I go away for an hour for lunch and I come back and people are full of insights and help. I love this group!
Thanks for the feedback on this natural curve period between bustles. I think the princess line is flattering too, and I'm sure she'll look and feel great in this dress. I should have mentioned that yes, there is lots of self-fabric pleating iat the bottom of the skirt, so I know that will add to the amount needed. Fran, thank you for listing the fabric requirements for those different types of dresses. Once I sit down and work out some calculations, I think I'll be fine. But it's nice to have a guideline. I planned to flat line everything in black and line the bodice. Do you all think the skirt needs flatlining and lining? Fit will indeed be crucial, Cindy, and that's the part I'm hoping to have some help with once I finish the corset. And I had forgotten the term "pocket Venus." That will thrill Terry, who is tired of being the shortest of her peers no matter what group she's with at the time. Thanks, everyone. I'll keepin touch as I build this thing. I don't have a blog, don't usually read them either, but it might be a good time to start a blog on the progress of this dress. I will continue to welcome input. I leave for Costume College on Tuesday morning and will be back the following Wednesday, so if you send ideas as they pop into your heads, please don't think I didn't appreciate you notes. LynnD On 7/27/07, Abel, Cynthia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > A lot of photographs and portraits from this era show women wearing the > fashionable silhouette, whether it flattered them or not, in our eyes. > But even in the 18th century, whether drawn on the imaginary ideal or a > painted portrait, artists tailored their work to an ideal that few women > could meet. And until the latter part of the 20th century, with the > advent of diets, plastic surgery, and just the rare draw of the right > DNA, very very few women did. Also, the fashionable ideal in the later > 19th century was curvy and so-called "pocket Venuses"(short but curvy > women who could corset their waists to the fashionable ideal)rivalled > the taller women, like Lily Langtry and Sarah Bernhardt, who are more > attractive to the modern eye. > > The important most important thing is fit. The latter half of the 19th > century abounds in surviving photographed portraits where fit isn't the > best. And few women could or would corset themselves to the fashionable > ideal, just as today, few women really can meet the under-ideal-weight > of fashion models and actresses. Proper drape and scale of fabric in > both weight and design is critical for both dolls and short persons like > me(below 5')Keeping to a single color tone is best on the short--for the > tall and very thin, then as now, can wear all the wild color > combinations of the Belle Epoque when new dye technology made really > bright colors possible. > > Cindy Abel > > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
