2007/12/4, Cin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > So, what's your > dressmaker's dummy wearing today? >
Hi! The last time this subject came up, I didn't even own one. But had a wedding coming up and the crazy idea of sewing the costumes for it myself, so I won one on e-bay which seemed the right size, which I took home, adjusted to my measurements and proceeded to find that it was suitable to first model his wedding suit on (a lovely 1830s frock, now finished). So now, it's a few weeks later, the wedding is even more imminent, I have lost eight kilos and had to compress the top part of dummy beyond its specification. There is one way it's good that I'm so late with my own dress: If I already had it now, it wouldn't fit any more. And I've been thinking and thinking about the design! I want our clothes to match. I want an 1830s full skirt. And people from this list have even convinced me that it's possible to dance a waltz in a hoop skirt. But our wedding dance is a tango, which requires that the gentleman should be able to slide his knee _between_ the lady's legs. Again, hoops are out of the question! :-( I have since had the privilege to watch a wonderful show on 'The Evolution of Dance', and it is amazing how obviously the dominant dance of each time corresponds to the fashion worn then (mainly by the ladies). And tango is 1920s -- flapper dresses :-( ! And the close, fast-turning version of Viennese Waltz that we will dance afterwards actually came up with, and wants, the late Victorian flat front and narrow silhouette you see e.g. in Renoir's famous dance portraits -- http://claude-monet.org/artbase/Renoir/1841-1919/apc825799/apc.jpg, http://artyzm.com/obrazy/renoir-dance.jpg, http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/impressionism/images/PierreAugusteRenoir-Dance-in-the-City-1883.jpg. So now I'm trying to incorporate all that into the design -- and the dress dummy is currently wearing the first layer of underpinnings -- a 'slip' to make the skirt stand out from the body -- and I'm making the tiers of netting open in the front, so there will be fewer layers there and our knees can touch. Plus, a flat-fronted style should be more flattering to me, anyway. Ssh! Luckily he doesn't read this forum AFAIK -- he mustn't know! It's bad luck if the bridegroom knows the dress of the bride beforehand (in German tradition). The sewing room is taboo for him, and when I have to cut large pieces of fabric and need more space, I have to send him away or wait until he is asleep. Forgive my spelling of my name, I don't want it to come up in an accidental internet search, so he can't stumble upon this conversation. (By German tradition, it's also bad luck to sew one's own wedding dress, but you can apparently revert that if someone else does the last stitch). All the while "Bridal Gowns: How to Make the Wedding Dress of Your Dreams" by Susan E. Andriks is helping me a lot. It has a *wealth* of tips and ideas which are actually not just useful for wedding gowns. Love to all B arb ara M _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
