Elizabeth,
You make some excellent points. I had already planned to have a red (we're
talking turkey red, not a bright cherry red) box pleated ruffle down the CF,
the cuff and (a smaller one) at the neck. That may be enough contrast;
however, I really want to challenge myself with correctly making the double
piping at the waist edge. It may end up that I double pipe with the fashion
fabric; it depends on whether the originally-planned contrast seems to be
enough red to spice up my predominately toast and brown pattern. The dress
will be an English woman's dress, not American, and I know that there were
some differences in fashion styles. (And, since I always wear an apron tied
around my waist, very few people will ever see the contrast piping once I'm
dressed. It will be something *I* know about my dress - like using one real
pearl amongst the good fakes in my Renaissance court outfit.)
Elizabeth, thank you for your input; I know your focus and have often
appreciated and sent others to your website for how-tos and to see how it
looks when it's Done Right. I will keep your message in my references for
when my dress absolutely, positively needs to be perfectly authentic. For my
theatrical focus, I will still keep my options open until the dress is more
complete, maybe by next Christmas time.
LynnD
On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 9:00 PM, Elizabeth Clark
elizabethstewartcl...@hotmail.com wrote:
If your costuming goal is to have a garment that reflects overall norms for
the mid-century, then please do use self-fabric piping or corded piping on
cotton print dresses. It is *by far* the most typical. Mrs Lincoln's gown is
atypical, even for a high-fashion dress, and should not be used as
documentation for contrast piping on a cotton print dress.
That doesn't mean, however, that you lose the opportunity to add color
contrast. Pick up the red with covered buttons (perhaps do little ones, set
in close groups of three... that's one treatment I've seen on a print dress,
and it's very effective), add flat bands of red to a cuff (perhaps with more
buttons), and/or add a belt with a red rosette at the closure. Or, add a red
ribbon bow at your neckline instead of a brooch. There are lots of ways to
pull up that red that would be quite normal and typical for a cotton print
(or wool or silk print) dress, so you'd be both individually stylish *and*
consistent with decorative dress details for the period.
(Of course, if you have a different costuming goal, don't worry about it!
Do as you like! Not every use calls for an outfit that stays fully
consistent with the period.)
Regards,
Elizabeth Clark
The Sewing Academy Main Site
The Sewing Academy Historic Clothing Tech Support Forum
___
h-costume mailing list
h-costume@mail.indra.com
http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
___
h-costume mailing list
h-costume@mail.indra.com
http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
