#TBT: My First Francaise Attempt

If you've been here before, you're already aware that I've been diving into my first 18th century ensemble with a low-key, no deadline project to figure things out. Or, rather, we've all embraced the crazy and I'm building a robe a la francaise from the undergarments out for my first time at the Palace of Versailles.

I've been practicing my minuet! (still from Coppola's Marie Antoinette)

Mostly this is my first real foray into the 18th century, but I went through a serious Marie Antoinette phase in high school after watching Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette movie. I read both Fraser's Marie Antoinette: The Journey (the biography that inspired the movie) and Weber's Queen of Fashion, and decided to make my own. It was a bit of a mess. There are a lot of reasons why, but at the time it didn't really matter, because I was frustrated and didn't know enough to problem-solve. The dress traveled with me to college, was worn in various pieces with various safety-pin alterations, and stayed in the collection.

high school goals: Duchess Polignac (from the movie)

At the end of my sophomore year of college, I attended a Dances of Vice event with my friend themed "the enchanted menagerie." Back in the day, DoV events were much more 18th century-leaning, with massive theatrical wigs on very tall, fabulously-dressed New Yorkers...so it was the perfect time to revive the battered francaise. I made a stomacher out of a butterfly brocade remnant, and used the remaining square as a petticoat (but it was just pinned to the panniers, because I couldn't find the matching petticoat I'd originally made). All of the butterflies on the stomacher and petticoat-thing were rhinestoned, many sitting in traffic on the way to NY (don't worry, I wasn't driving!). My friend was already blogging, but I wasn't yet, and so these pictures have never seen the light of day.

my sewing may have progressed but my flair for the dramatic hasn't changed

Have a giggle at my expense (oh man, I've come a long way on a lot of fronts since then), and enjoy!

it's hard to see the rhinestones in the event pictures, but here s an in-progress snap of the stomacher

rhinestoning in traffic!

columns are always good for posing