Inspired By | 18th Century Pink

If we’re friends on Instagram, you may have seen some photos of my weekend journey time traveling to a historic hotel in Ohio with Adam for an 18th century dinner party (yes, it was amazing!) Before I share those photos, I wanted to break down my inspiration for the project and share some images that guided me through my most recent costume adventure!

When I saw the photo above left, I knew I wanted to re-create a similar gown. My first historical project was for a daytime event and made from Red chintz and blue stripes, so for a dress of the same era, but for the evening, I wanted to go 180 in terms of materials. Both are Italian style gowns, but as you’ll see soon, the end look is quite different! So the photo on the left - that’s the main image I kept going back to when thinking out this costume. I love the lush sheen of the silk, the matching petticoat and trim, the soft sheer fichu (neck scarf) and the beautifully arranged floral accents. Six yards of a pink and cream shot silk (one color running each way) later and I was ready to make the 18th century evening gown of my dreams.

As I prepped for the event and tried to nail down styling, I decided to re-watch one of my favorite costume films of all time - Sophia Coppola’s 2006 Marie Antoinette starring Kirsten Dunst. Fun fact - I was very excited to see this film when it came out and was actually on a work trip to Paris when I saw it in theaters there! It was even a week or so before it debuted in the US. If you follow my stories you know I am the kind of person that gets a lot of JOY out of things I love, so just imagine what it was like to see this movie on my first trip to France! IT WAS AMAZING!

But back to the film! I was rewatching and noticed the dress - my dress - or at least the dress I wanted to recreate. A little googling later and a very fun tumblr called Recycled Movie Costumes and I realized the original inspiration dress above was originally created for Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. The practical side of me loves that this gown got multiple lives in different movies (also worn in a Royal Affair). While my gown isn’t a screen copy of the one you see here, it definitely captures the feeling. It’s also pretty historically accurate while still letting me feel like I got to make some design decisions. Guys! This was a dream project and I’m already imagining how I might rework the dress for future occasions!

For my hair I also turned to inspiration images - some modern (like the editorials at the top of this post) and some from portraits of the time like the image above and to the left. For my hairdo the main elements I knew I wanted to incorporate were feathers, flowers, shape and powder. Creating a somewhat similar look too a lot of trial and error, but was majorly worth it. I felt like it was pretty historically accurate but I still felt beautiful wearing it.

I also ended up buying a rose gold wig and styling it time and time again only to end up powdering and poofing my own hair instead - a last minute decision I’m really happy with in hindsight. I will say the wig I bought was amazing quality and not expensive, so I hope I have the chance to wear it another time.

So that’s a little about how I got inspired for this project and this week I’ll share some photos of myself all decked out at the event! It was raining cats and dogs, but Adam worked his magic and got some pretty shots - I can’t wait to edit them and show you!

Inspiration | Yellow Regency Vest

For my latest historical sewing project, I’ve been working on a yellow linen Regency era vest. Before I debut the final piece (although it’s not a secret, you can see my progress on Instagram!), I wanted to share some of the inspiration behind my color, silhouette and embellishment choices!

Although I’m making my vest from an extant museum piece, I’m not copying it exactly. I’ve used popular color combos of the time (yellow and white), trims (Hussard inspired buttons and placement) and motifs (like the Napoleonic bee embroidered on back!). I’ve also modified the construction, but I’ll go into that when I show you the finished piece!

What are you guys sewing/crafting these days?

Inspired by | Red Chintz

In the past few weeks i have been sewing up a storm and am in the process of putting the finishing touches on my 1780s Italian gown. Before the big reveal, I wanted to pull together my inspiration images and tell you a little more about my fabric choice.

Usually when I set out to sew something, I have an idea in my head of what the finished piece will look like before I even begin. It’s been very different this time around! I had my pattern (Fig Leaf Patterns 101) ordered and I knew I wanted to do a print, but I kept getting tripped up on what combination of fabrics to use. As you can imagine these 18th century dresses take a lot of yardage so there’s the question of cost. I also want to be appropriate for the event we’re attending, so this wouldn’t be a grand courtly number (ie, not silk) either.

Then one day I bit the bullet when I saw PennyRiver on Instagram doing a little flash sale on some of her stash. She had a Colonial Williamsburg chintz I’d had my eye on and at a discount - so I snapped it up. At just three yards I knew I’d have to be extra careful with my pattern layout and cutting, but at worst I could make it up into a jacket to be worn with a petticoat.

All this long story is to say that after I’d bought the fabric I realized every costumer under the sun seemed to be making white chintz Italian gowns. For good reason too - chintz patterns were all the rage during the 1700s, especially the latter half of the century. But you know me - I can’t look like everyone else! Which finally landed me on the idea of overdying the fabric and repainting in the print by hand.

So that’s exactly what I did.

It took roughly 30 hours after my kids went to bed each night over my dining room table, four white gel pens, three boxes of chalk paint markers and five true crime podcast series. And I am so in love with the final result!

I’d like to have my entire look complete before sharing too much, but there is a little back view of the dress on my instagram. I’ve also realized it’s really tricky to photograph these colors in a way that reflects their real life hues, but hopefully when I have my real photographer (Adam!) he’ll be able to do them justice.

If you’d like to see all of my inspiration, including some images that I didn’t post here, check out my Pinterest board! Can I just time travel back to the 18th century please (for a limited time, I know life was not easy back them for a multitude of reasons, but let’s just embrace the fantasy aspect and ignore the realities!)

Inspired By | Baskets as Wall Art

One of the design trends I've really liked lately are baskets as wall art. I've lucked out - they are abundant at my local thrift store (so much so I've been buying extra in hopes I can list some for sale in the near future!)

I'm using them in my new laundry room and these are some of the images that helped me create a layout that I liked (I also used a trivet and a placement). I like more shallow style baskets for my walls but the possibilities are endless!

If you're not the thrifting type, a great source singles or sets are on Etsy.  I have two similar pocket baskets (great for little potted plants!) and I love something like this for a statement.