The Kirsten Project | Happy Birthday, Kirsten!

Spring has arrived! The chickens are laying a rainbow of colorful eggs, the redbuds have popped and the fruit trees are blooming! Warmer days lead us outside to play and prepare our gardens for the summer ahead! Between these moments, I’ve been sneaking away time here and there to finish my 1850s spring dress, based off Happy Birthday, Kirsten! and I am so happy with how the project has turned out! I’d love to tell you more about my design process and how I took the original cover art by Renée Graef and translated it into women’s dress informed by the fashion trends of the era. If you haven’t see my research posts on 200 Years of Gingham, Tiered Skirts, Girls’ Dresses, Pink in the 19th century or my intro post, I encourage you to check those out first! This edition of The Kirsten Project requires a little more description, so grab a hot cup of coffee and join me for this springtime delight!

While past my costumes (Meet Kirsten, Kirsten’s Surprise and Changes for Kirsten) have very closely mirrored the illustrations and doll clothes, I’ve taken more artistic liberties based on historical sources with the adult version of Kirsten’s springtime dress.

Let’s start with the obvious: for my woman’s interpretation of the birthday dress, I have chosen not to wear a pinafore style apron. I’ve made this decision for a couple of reasons: firstly, pinafores, like the one worn by Kirsten are almost entirely worn by younger girls (like I did in my childhood version, 28 years ago!) Secondly, if an adult women did wear an apron, it would have almost always been a practical work time covering for her dress and not a fashion accessory. Of course there are always outlying examples against the rule, but I’m happy with my choice to omit a pinafore from my version of this costume. As with past projects I have found some extant items of what I’m guessing the team at Pleasant Company may have referenced, which you can find on my corresponding research post. (All of my visual examples are on that page, so keep it open to look back to as you read this post!)

Neckline

Instead of the high neckline of the Pleasant Company Kirsten birthday dress, I’ve instead opted for a lower and wider shape and I did this to bring some variation to the project. It’s absolutely historically correct for women and girls to have worn high necklines through the 1850s but it’s also correct to see a more open shape. If you look back to my post on popular girl’s silhouettes of this era, you’ll see how this holds true. A wide neck, short sleeve, gathered front dress was incredibly popular through a large majority of the 19th century (example 2, 2.1). Sometimes these open necklines are paired with an additional layer underneath for modesty or morning/afternoon wear (example 3).

Because I’ve omitted the pinafore, I chose to using vintage crochet lace at the neckline with a slight triangular shape. I’ve found examples of this in daguerreotypes (example 4, 4.1) and I think it nicely mirrors the lines of Kirsten’s apron without being childish.

Bodice

My starting point for this dress was a commercial pattern (McCalls 7988) drafted by costumer Angela Clayton, based off of a dress from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (example 5).

The bodice is composed on a yoke, gathered center front portion and sides that wrap around the torso to a back princess seam and two center back sections. This kind of construction really reminds me of 18th Century Italian gowns because there is no side seam like we see in modern clothing. The yoke also extends over the shoulder just like an 18th century style. If you look closely you can see I paid careful attention to matching my plaid, which meant that I sewed almost every seam by hand to get a perfect flow of the gingham! The bodice is lined in white twill to give it extra strength because the skirt is very heavy. Two boning channels finish out the center back and trouser hooks and bars are sewn to the lining to close the bodice.

Even though I didn’t layer a pinafore over top my dress, check out how the front style lines both narrow in at the waist. This style of bodice was common for both girls and women, as can be seen in examples 6, 6.1.

Sleeves

In her birthday story, Kirsten wears a short sleeved dress. This presents a slight problem for an adult interpretation because women of the 1850s did not often reveal their bare arms during the day - both out of modesty and practicality. For evening attire the rules change as one is surrounded by her peers and may show more skin.

The dropped shoulder attaches to layered upper and lower sleeves and two sets of 36” of ruffles. These two sleeves are stacked on top of one another and then sewn to the shoulder seem. Piping is used throughout. Like the neckline, I trimmed the lower sleeve ruffle with antique hand crocheted trim to refer back to the pointed trim on Kirsten’s apron.

For these photos I’ve decided to style the dress without an under layer because I wanted to capture the look and feel of Kirsten’s birthday dress, but I have posed for a few shots with the dress over a shirt waist - a look shown in many fashion plates from the 1850s (example 7, 7.1, 7.2). I’ll post those in coming weeks on my instagram page.

Skirt

Kirsten’s Birthday outfit by Pleasant Company has three visual layers to her skirt - her pinafore, dress and petticoat. I’ve chosen to interpret these layers into the very fashionable three tiered skirts of the 1850s. The first tier of the skirt is 135” wide and cartridge pleated into the waistline with an additional petticoat underneath that’s built into the dress. Imagine on knee length gingham layer over a white floor length layer (which serves as the base for the second and third layers). I hand sewed the top layer and petticoat to a 1” thick strip of twill tape the length of my waist. That tape was later sewn directly to the twill lining and the bodice was overlapped and hand sewn down to each pleat.

Now back to the bottom layers! I don’t currently have a set of hoops to wear underneath but if I ever add them to my costume kit, they would really extend and widen the look of the skirt! The bottom two layers are 240” wide, gathered, and sewn down directly on the petticoat. Prior to any construction, I marked the placement of the layers. That’s because each tier is hemmed before gathering by turning up the bottom edge and covering it with the 3” wide bias detail (which was appliquéd by hand on top!) This is one element of my costume that doesn’t have any direct reference back to Kirsten’s PC dress, but was an artistic decision that ties back to historical research. (examples 8, 8.1)

Flower Crown

So much of this springtime edition of The Kirsten Project revolves around what was in fashion during the 1850s - color trends (think pink!), gingham fabric, and voluminous tiered skirts. One element that has ties to both fashion and to Swedish culture is Kirsten’s flower crown.

One of Sweden’s biggest (and oldest) celebrations is the summer solstice tradition of Midsummar. Flower crowns are worn by young and old, men, women, boy and girls. The tradition goes that unmarried people pick seven different kinds of wildflowers to make into their crowns and then put them under their pillows to dream of their future spouse. This reminded me of the following passage in Happy Birthday, Kirsten!

“Pick as many daisies as you can!” Anna told everyone. “We’re going to make daisy chains.” All eight girls fanned out across the meadow. It was the day of the barn raising and they were picking wildflowers.”

“Happy Birthday, Kirsten!” Lisbeth said. She placed a wreath of flowers on Kirsten’s head. The blossoms tickled Kirsten’s ears through her long hair. 

And although it’s not part of her outfit, Kirsten’s mom also bakes a cake called Jordgubbstårta, topped with strawberries and fresh cream - a very popular Swedish Midsommar dessert! 

Flower crowns aren’t limited to Scandinavian culture of course. Queen Victoria wore a crown of orange blossoms at her 1840 wedding and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln wore flowers in her hair for many of her portraits (examples 9, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3). You’ll find floral hair decorations throughout the 1840s-1860s on fashion plates and in lady’s magazines.

In the pioneer spirit of making do with what’s available, I used flowers I could find in my stash of old spring wreaths and intermixed those with faux flowers I bought this winter in preparations for this project. I really love cobbling together what I can find around the house and I don’t think it could have been as lovely if I had bought everything new. And just in case you’re wondering, there are seven different types of blossoms arranged throughout. I’d sleep on it, but I’ve already found my perfect match in my husband Adam, who shot most of these photos (Felix also took a few!!) 

Around my neck I’m re-wearing the amber heart necklace on a brown silk ribbon (I dyed it using walnut husks I collected from my yard!), which was a part of my Meet Kirsten look.

Socks and Boots

I’ve always loved the combination of pink with red and Kirsten’s birthday cover outfit is no exception! I searched high and low for weeks to find a pair of vintage Justin lace up boots and actually found them in a shade of taupe on eBay (see the before here)! I used leather dye to give them their rich red hue. Red shoes were popular for Victorian children, although examples of this particular color and style together were difficult to research. More often I found examples that buttoned up the outer ankle, which was a common style of boot at the time. I’m also wearing blue and white striped socks (ready made), just like the cover.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this springtime installment of The Kirsten Project! Many thanks to those of you who chipped in this winter to help me purchase my fabric and supplies that made this costume possible. And thank you to all of you that have been so encouraging in this process, including the American Girls podcast, the Serious Crafts podcast and every person who has messaged me to share their own American Girl stories over the past months! It feels good to think about a time when I was a child - safe, curious, inspired, and playful. Completing this project, photographing, editing and writing about it - has been a positive light that has kept me from sinking too far into darkness while isolated. Here’s to silver linings, the beauty of a new season and all of the good things to come.

Time Traveling | 18th Century Dinner Party

Over the weekend I felt like a straight up royal, all dressed up in a 1770s pink silk gown. Adam and I drove to Ohio’s oldest hotel, the Golden Lamb, for an intimate dinner party with guests dressed in their best 18th century ensembles. We had such a great time and loved meeting historical fashion enthusiasts! And seeing their gowns and suits close up was a thrill! Many thanks to our gracious hostess Amber, who organized our event!

Let me tell you about my look from head to toe! I loved every single step of this project - researching the history, finding inspiration, sewing and especially wearing it. If you’d asked me a year ago if dressing up in Georgian finery would be my favorite hobby… well, I probably would have believed you. I love it!

I started getting ready for the night by putting on my sleeveless shift and embroidered stays. These were the only items that went over my head and I wanted to have those on before I started my elaborate hair style. I worked with 3 day dirty hair which had already been powdered a couple times. I divided my hair into a front and back section and to create the height and used a skein of yarn (thanks for the tip Yunna!) and pinned my hair over it and directly behind it. Once I was happy with the coverage and height (covering all of the yarn can be a tad fiddly), I pulled my remaining hair into a low bun. Then, I clipped in a hairpiece that had been previously wet set into five curls. Adam helped me pin those curls over the edges so the base of the hairpiece was invisible.

After a vigorous spritz of hairspray, I lightly powdered all of my hair. The photos don’t quite capture the coverage, but it looked awesome! Some might wonder - why was grey/white hair a trend in the 18th century? From my research I believe it first started with the use of wigs by royalty in the 16th and 17th centuries. Many believe it was to cover the baldness brought about by STDs (seriously) and then evolved into a fashion trend. White wigs were the most expensive and thus the look of white hair became most fashionable. Pastels blue, pink and purple powders were also on trend. A tax levied on hair powder at the end of the 18th century helped it fall out of style. I really look forward to expanding my knowledge of historically accurate hair styles but I really loved what I came up with for this occasion!

For makeup I simply powdered my face, did a berry colored lip and used the same lipstick to dab onto my cheeks. I did a quick swipe of mascara and was done!

Before I put on my gown, I dressed in additional layers to add more volume under my gown and petticoat. First, a simple white quilted cotton petticoat worn with a false rump stuffed to add more fluff to the back of my dress. Then I tucked my sheer fichu into the top of my stays (which can also be tucked into your petticoat at the waist… but I needed my bodice to lay perfectly flat and didn’t want any of the fichu edges showing underneath!) At this time I also had on white stockings and my American Duchess Kensington buckled shoes.

Next up - the gown! I used six yards of pink silk to make both the petticoat (underskirt) and gown. On the petticoat there is a 7” ruffle with scalloped and pinked edges sewn to the hem. The dress has ruched sleeve cuffs and trim around the neckline and center front opening. At the neck and sleeve edges I also placed a narrow sheer ruffle. The matching petticoat, also called a ditto, is intentionally short - those Georgians loved to show a little ankle!

At my waist I have a 2” wide band of brocade silk, which actually came from my grandmother’s wedding dress (see her wedding photos here). Me, my sister and all of my girl cousins have had a piece of her dress for our weddings (I wrapped mine around my bouquet). I was rushed on what to use and wanted silk so I asked my mom if there was enough of this fabric at home to make a simple belt. She stitched it up for me and handed it off as we headed out the door for our road trip. No, it’s not perfectly 1770s in motif but it looks great, it’s special and perfect to me!

Lastly I pinned on a corsage made of springy faux flowers. I’ve seen this in a lot of portraits and illustrations and I love the way it add dimension and color to my overall look.

And that’s it! We had such a wonderful time and I’m already on the hunt for a venue closer to home so I might host something similar in the future!

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!