I was invited to a "haunted board-game night", which gave me the opportunity to do a costume I have been wanting for a long time: a white lace ca 1905 dress, here used for a vampire. Those dresses are fabulous, but a bit daunting - to source and sew on all that lace in a decently historically accurate way seems expensive in both time and money. So, I made a "quick and dirty" version!
The skirt is my 1905 underskirt, and the overskirt is a lace curtain pinned in place. The belt is a new, as is the blouse. I used the pattern I made for the 1905 blouse, and lengthened a bit in the waist. The sleeve got a pouf at the wrist(as typical for the time) and I cheated with the cuff - it is just wide enough for me to get my hand through without buttons (remember, this was supposed to be a quick make - fastenings takes a lot of time at least for me). As I happened to make the blouse too wide over the shoulders, I put three pin tucks on each shoulder - much easier than ripping off the sleeves and re-cut the bodice, decorative, and also historically plausible. There is only one hook and bar at the neck, and then the collar is pinned. I also omitted all kind of finishing fabric edges. The cotton I used is not too fraying, and I don't expect to use this more than one or a few times.
The facts:
What is it? An vampire dress inspired by 1900-1910 lace dresses.
Material: cotton ( bed sheet for skirt, duvet cover for blouse), silk/hemp fabric for the belt, dead dino (a k a some random synthetic fabric) lace curtain, cotton embroidered lace.
Pattern: skirt from Truly Victorian, belt and blouse drafted by me.
How historically accurate is it? Not much! The skirt is good in construction for an underskirt, but would typically have been silk, and obviously not seen. Overskirt is not even following the shape of the skirt. Blouse have the right shape and the pin tucks are ok, but the lace placement is not. Also, is way too sloppy and in too cheap materials for a dress of this kind. Good it was never intended to be historically accurate, or even to be worn in good light conditions!
Hours to complete: about 2-3 h for the new parts, that is, the blouse and belt.
First worn: at a haunted board-game night with some friends.
Total cost: 0, as everything was remnants of other projects, from my stash (and the lace curtain is still usable as curtain!). 129 sek if I add the cost of the red lipstick...
What is it? An vampire dress inspired by 1900-1910 lace dresses.
Material: cotton ( bed sheet for skirt, duvet cover for blouse), silk/hemp fabric for the belt, dead dino (a k a some random synthetic fabric) lace curtain, cotton embroidered lace.
Pattern: skirt from Truly Victorian, belt and blouse drafted by me.
How historically accurate is it? Not much! The skirt is good in construction for an underskirt, but would typically have been silk, and obviously not seen. Overskirt is not even following the shape of the skirt. Blouse have the right shape and the pin tucks are ok, but the lace placement is not. Also, is way too sloppy and in too cheap materials for a dress of this kind. Good it was never intended to be historically accurate, or even to be worn in good light conditions!
Hours to complete: about 2-3 h for the new parts, that is, the blouse and belt.
First worn: at a haunted board-game night with some friends.
Total cost: 0, as everything was remnants of other projects, from my stash (and the lace curtain is still usable as curtain!). 129 sek if I add the cost of the red lipstick...
Finally: this is the kind of dress I was inspired by. You can see why a proper one is not something that one makes without quite a commitment!
