Romantic Era Dress Update #1 and Inspiration

Just thought I'd post real quick and say that I made the mock-up for my Romantic era dress today-- while watching Episodes 1 and a half of Wives and Daughters, of course! All I am going to change is that I am going to lift the waistline an inch or two so that it will work with my short stays. On Thursday, we should be going to Ashtabula and I plan to get the fabric for the actual dress and I will use the mockup for the lining. I will post pictures when I get the fabric... and of course of the finished project. :-)


I'm going to mix and match two of Molly's dress for the look I want.

Inspiration #1

I love this dress of Molly's. I am going for the slightly higher waist and the neckline. However, I think her bodice is pleated whereas I want to gather mine. (Easier ;-) )

A glimpse of the back:


An upclose look at the neckline. I want to do the large bias around the top and possibly that bit of lace peeking out. (BTW, I think Molly looks so cute in this picture. :-) )


Inspiration #2

Here's another one of Molly's dresses that I like. Wait a minute! I like 'em all, what am I saying!? :-P

I'm pretty sure this bodice is gathered at the bottom... On closer observation, I noticed it is gathered on the top, and I don't want that, but I do want it gathered at the bottom.

The sleeves are really what I'm aiming for in this dress: fuller than the orange flowered dress, perfect for summer. :-)

Here's a good shot of the sleeves (and of Molly ;-) ):



One More Thing!

Forgive me; I know I'm being longwinded.

Eventually I'd like to also try this beautiful dress of Cynthia's. I don't like a lot of them because sometimes they're really way out there, but this one is more simple and very pretty!

(Note: for those who haven't watched Wives and Daughters, Cynthia is the girl on the RIGHT, not the silly looking lady curstying on the left. :-P )


BTW, watching Wives and Daughters is the perfect thing to do when making a Romantic era dress. :-) Thanks for letting me ramble. There's more where that came from. :-)

Comments

Holly said…
Absolutely LOVE Wives and Daughters!!! And North and South, Cranford....anything Elisabeth Gaskell. :) I just read "North and South for the first time and was surprised to find how closely BBC followed the book.
About Molly's dresses, last time we watched "Wives & Daughter's" my Mother and I sketched many of her outfits. They are all so sweet and feminine. I would love to be able to copy some of them or find patterns. I am not very good in the, see-it-then-make-it arena, but I think some day I shall try. I look forward to seeing pictures of your sewing!
Haha, very long winded post! :D

Bethany
Holly Marie,

That's about right... anything Elizabeth Gaskell! :-D My mom printed North and South off of Gutenberg Press and I started to read it, but it's kind of hard to read a book that is in stapled sections of paper printed off the computer... :-P

The pattern I am using is Sense & Sensibility's Romantic Era Dress pattern, which bases its patterns off of the dresses in W&D. They're fun patterns to work with!

I agree about Molly's dresses. I love them because they reflect her sweet, modest, Christlike spirit, and that's what I want my clothing to do! :-)

~Elinor
Adelheide said…
I read Wives and Daughters off Gutenberg too! It was a complete surprise when I got to the end though and there was no ending, and no explanation! It turns out that Elizabeth died while writing it, so it has never been finished. I wish I had known that before I started, it's very sad to have no ending to such a great book.
Yes, it is so sad that Mrs. Gaskell died before she could write the ending. I read that she had told a friend prior to that, that she planned to have Roger return from Africa and give Molly a dried flower (the one she gave him before he left) as proof of his enduring love. I wonder how that would have been. But I think BBC did a beautiful job ending it, especially how they have Molly go with Roger to Africa. That is so like something she would do-- ready to be with and help her husband in whatever areas of life God led him to. It's neat. :-)

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