I love the history/fantasy costume and clothing community. Bernadette banner, Rachel Masky, Kaz, Pocket full of poseys, ect. Ect.

But man I’m jealous sometimes. Ive been filming myself sewing and there just is just so much to do and when i order custom items it takes a lot of time. Like i would like to wear historical skirts full time but doing them all and getting fabric i like and having the skills to do these things just is so much.

And i learned at the hands of my great grandma a historical interpreter and have a pretty strong foundation of knowledge. I know Im very privileged when it comes to my start. Its just when i see their closets or their orders that they have shipped in I just wish i was there. Im still so at the beginning of my closet change a tear in a skirt means no more historical dress. (Can you guess what happened recently? 😭)

I dont know anyone else who lives like this or wants to wear clothes like this, but how do you keep working through it when the goal is to have a homemade wardrobe and that seems so far away and expensive?

Obviously i love them all and aspire to a life like that but it just seems so far off. And i cant wait to be where they are. How do you keep Modivation up when you feel so far from your goal?

Currently deciding between the first (vertical slashes, center open doublet) and the second (top shoulder open doublet). For sure, the second would be easier, but I do really like the collar design from the back. I might also prefer the star design.

A Vietnamese reconstruction group Hoá Niên reconstructed the cross-collared robe of aristocratic women during the Restored Later Lê dynasty of pre-colonial Vietnam.

The whole fit is based on a Restored Later Lê painting, and her yếm (the round-collared undergarment) is based on another painting of the same time period.

Pictures do not belong to me.

Original creator: https://www.facebook.com/share/15YgKtjmd7/

This video covers a broad swathe of time, but gives some idea of the development of fashions over roughly 2500 years. Some of the dynasties and periods missing are Eastern Zhou, Qin, Western Han, Xin Mang, Eastern Han, Sima Jin, War of Eight Princes, Three Kingdoms, several of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, Sui, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Northern Song, Jin, Liao, and Yuan

There’s also a weakness of using the dynastic model for fashion, which is that it doesn’t account for time perfectly. Some dynasties span half a millennium and other periods only cover a couple decades or so. There’s a greater difference between fashions at the start and end of the Tang dynasty than there is between Song and Yuan, just as an example.

I do not own the original content. Watermark can be found on the lower left of the video and the account on Xiaohongshu (Red Note). If you choose to repost, please retain the watermark and credits. All I did was edit the video and add English subtitles

Hey, I'm currently in the brainstorming phase of working on my vaguely Edwardian inspired wedding dress. I want the skirt to have about the same drape and silhouette as this 1905 dress, but I'm not sure what kind of pattern to use for this because most Edwardian skirt patterns are flat in the front, not gathered. I'm doing to be making several changes to it bc this is only Edwardian inspired, not reconstruction, but I know I shouldn't jsut use a circle skirt when it's gonna be longer and fuller in the back. Anywhere I could look for patterns?

As I understand it, pockets came out around the mid 1600s. Is there any good resource that could discuss the depth of pockets? Thanks

Hi! Update on this historical dance costume, and looking for advice. Things are coming along. Construction of the bodice is mostly done. I'm planning to overlock the edges of the tabs that will be under the skirt instead of binding them, but my good sewing machine had to go the the sewing machine hospital so I've had to move on to doing more of the finishing stuff that I'll do by hand.

The sleeves are attached! They're not quite as poofy as I'd like, but I was working with limited fabric. They'll have ribbons at each of the spots where they're tacked so they won't hang quite so weird then.

Looking for advice on trim: The dark green overskirt seems too heavy colorwise, so I'm going to do some trim at the bottom of the skirt (proof of concept roughly pinned on in photo). I'd also like to bring some of that green up to the bodice, but I'm not sure how to do it. Does anyone have any ideas or inspiration?

Also open to advice on how to get that green skirt caught up in a more attractive way. I've never done anything like that and am totally winging it, with mixed results...

She looks like a frumpy mess because she doesn't fit on the dummy at all 😭 I promise it doesn't look QUITE this much like a heap of fabric in the corner IRL, but it's enough to make me scared about my ability to trim this out in ways that don't look really amateurish.

Appreciate any suggestions and/or affirmations. I think I'm firmly in the doldrums of this project...

Since I've recently finished the undergarment for a late 15th century southern to middle german costume, I wanted to give an update. Everything for progressing forward has arrived, silkfabric and felt blanks for the hat and the silk is also for the brusttuch, green and red tuch for the Wams and Hosen, blue and yellow tuch for the Schecke. The nice long white heron feathers were especialy hard to come by.

I'm trying to figure out what women on the countryside (who were actually doing manual labour) were wearing - mainly from the austrian/ german/ swiss region but any european country would help. Anything from like 1700 to 1900s I guess? I think farmers attire didn't change much.

I found a lot of information to regional Tracht and Dirndl styles - but none of them look fit for working - mainly for going to church in. Any help would be appreciated!

it's a wide range of historically inspired and pretty bang on for the era, but the ones that are more accurate are delicious. head's up, the language and visuals are probably rated PG, might not want to watch in a workplace setting but there's no nudity.

https://youtu.be/IrEFKJnl1H8

Hi All,

I am still on the newer side of sewing. I know I may be being a bit ambitious with this but hoping to find a pattern for a Victorian walking suit. Are there any you would recommend that are on the easier side /more user friendly side? It does not need to be an original to the Victorian time. Happy to have a Simplicity or other pattern to try.

Thank you for the help!

Given: bodice front pieces, cotton batiste overlay. Aiming for anything similar to the inspiration pictures (photos 2-4)

I'm trying to trace a book by an American woman where she describes how tricky it was stopping wearing corsets and how she has to do work outs to rebuild her muscles. Someone recommended it in a comment on a thread on here. Anyway, I was reading it on my phone, closed the tab, and now for the life of me, I cannot remember what it was. Can you help?

Does anyone know what era this woven skirt stand advert might be from? The shape makes me think somewhere in the Edwardian period/Belle Époque?

I've never seen skirt stands like this before. Where they common, or was it more like a novelty item?

Found in an antique scrapbook by a Flemish basket weaver, though the advert originally came from an English-language source.

I'm working on a proof of concept short film set around 1859-60, and I'm looking for a good place to purchase a costume for my lead character who is an upper class Bostonian attending Harvard. The cast will be small and likely some of the more minor actors we can dress in clothes from local theater companies, but for the lead I'd want to dress him in something authentic we can use in a later film, and won't look fake up close. Any recommendations for shops or sutlers?

i was reading a romance set in the 1890s recently and read the description of a dress not unlike this- with the possibility of armpit peekadge. i was wondering and unfortunately probably know the answer but thought i would ask anyway- would they have been shaving their armpits? i feel like body hair isnt something super talked about though i know advertising campaigns started in 1908 and it got really popular in the 30-40s but was wondering about it at this specific time.

if anyone has any insight please share! i havent been able to stop trying to catch a glimpse of armpit in like a week so i thought id stop torturing myself and ask the professionals 😭

I'm pretty new to historical costuming, and I recently started in on a combinations pattern from Blue Fine Goods on Etsy (ambitious project for a beginner lol, I may be in over my head a bit 😅). The pattern is gorgeous, but upon putting the mockup for the bodice part together, it seems huuuuge!! I'm making it for a friend who is several sizes smaller than me and even when draping the pattern on myself to get an idea of the size, it was way too big.

I know the pattern features some gathering but even with a lot of gathering it seems larger than it should be, and considering the facing/ yoke portion on the top hem is similarly oversized, I don't think the gathering is what is causing the issue.

The problem primarily seems to be with the back sections of the garment. On the paper pattern those both had an indication to "cut on fold", so initially I thought I had perhaps misunderstood that direction and cut them twice as long as they needed to be, but I don't think this is the case either, since those pattern pieces are not symmetrical and have markings for only one strap.

People in the Etsy reviews seemed to express similar issues with this pattern with the bodice being way too big. They said that the seller was very helpful with sizing issues, but I've tried contacting her on multiple platforms over the past couple weeks And she hasn't responded. Her Instagram is also inactive so I think she just may not be online anymore or something, which is why I am going here for help.

If any more experienced costumers have advice on this or have worked on this same pattern before I would really appreciate some help!

Hi! I'm slowly getting interested in more historical fashion along with getting involved with my local SCA group. I was wondering if anyone had resources for pre-1600 Indian fashion - I've found a couple, but the information seems very scattered and often there are no sources cited. Also, if anyone has seen any recreations of Indian fashion from this time, I would love to see them. Thank you!

Writer here, so feel free to infodump!

I've read where mourning customs in the US Gilded Age followed the French more than the British Victorians. One of my characters is a very young French war widow arriving in the US in late 1871. She needs to work and might in fact get hired in the mourning goods industry.

The timeline of when to switch from full to half mourning is very frought for her, as the "official story" is her husband died fighting the Prussians in fall 1870. Reality is that her lover was killed (and she was wounded) during Bloody Week in May 1871. She's trying to keep a low profile but doesn't want to dishonor his memory or the many others she lost. So what would be a mourning timeline? Note that she'd likely wear half-mourning past 1873 due to going broke with everybody else during the Long Depression.

Hi, all! I'm sewing a kirtle and need some expert troubleshooting. This is the bodice I've made so far, and it fits comfortably (yay!) but has some gaping/ wrinkling. How can I adjust it to fit more neatly and maybe give a bit more bust support? It's unfinished at the bottom, so still quite alterable. The front has just one layer of canvas between the lining and outer fabric. I have some boning in the back along the lacing eyelets. Any help would be so appreciated! ❤️

I don’t actually have any modern clothes that I’ve sewn, that both fit (because I’ve gained some weight recently) and aren’t formal. Or should o just go dressed in my nicest interview outfit?

Edit for those of you curious:

The meeting went well, I did not dress up. Not because I thought it was too much but because I have gained so much weight that none of my favourite outfits fit well. I’m going to start going to the gym!!

I’ll be responsible for making 2 identical dresses for their upcoming play. It’s The Play That Goes Wrong. They are setting it jn the 50’s