Last May when I was preparing for
an adventure in Bath, I started exploring the early 1870s in depth to inspire an early bustle gown to wear to the ball. While researching I started to notice a particular color trend--especially in winter ensembles--that spoke to me.
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| La Mode Illustree, 1871 (via) |
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| La Gazette Rose, 1873 (via) |
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| Illustrirte Frauen-Zeitung, 1874 (via) |
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| La Toilette de Paris, 1870 (via) |
The green and gray are an elegant combination on their own, but that particular pairing has a special place in my heart as my house colors. And after seeing Emma's amazing
Hufflebustle, I knew a Slytherin ensemble needed to happen.
I tried desperately to make this combination work for the Bath ball, but it turns out velvet and fur don't really work for May.
I ended up leaning into Tissot, which
did speak to me for May, and for dancing, and put my house dreams on hold. But then in November I saw
The Cursed Child (the Potter series sequel,
written as two plays, which is currently open in New York City, London, and coming soon to several other cities), and it was back to Slytherinspiration for me!
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| with my house crest outside the theater |
So I've thrown practicality to the wind and am putting my 1870s underpinnings to use again with a velvet and fur winter ensemble--short enough for skating, but dressy enough for future (less sporty) outings. And the timing couldn't have been better, because I've been in a rather witchy mood...and I don't mean that as a euphemism! Between
Cursed Child and my other media consumption (I'm currently blazing through the second book in the
All Souls Trilogy, and my sewing background show is
Siempre Bruja/Always a Witch (English dub)) this winter, I'm having serious witch vibes.
I am immensely pleased with my progress on this so far, and I'm excited to share the finished version soon! In the meantime, I'll leave you with the insides...because really, it doesn't get witchier than this.
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| bodice construction: you can see the gray argyll flannel lining on the pinned piece |
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| pinning the facings: the neck and front opening are faced in textured acid green silk. I extended the bottom edge facing into a bag lining (over the cotton flannel that is flat lined with the velvet) to the waist. The flannel and velvet love to stick to each other, so the silk lets the long points of the bodice move over the skirts smoothly. |
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| Pinning the bottom bag lining: an unintentional consequence of this approach is that the back pleats have serious body from the silk! |
And with that I suppose I should get back to work so I can wear this before all the snow melts!
