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Saturday, July 28, 2012

Costume Analysis: 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony

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Like the rest of the world, I was completely blown away by the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics last night. I don't know much about Danny Boyle's work (with the exception of some clips and pictures I saw of his production of "Frankenstein," which was visually incredible), but he did an incredible job. Besides waiting up to cheer on Team USA in the Parade of Nation and seeing Rowan Atkinson play "Chariots of Fire," my favorite part of the Opening Ceremony was the performance at the beginning, telling the story of Britain. It was so amazing to see a beautiful English meadow quickly converted into an Industrial Revolution steel forge (which was blurring the lines between Victorian and Steampunk, or was that just me?).

Of course, my eye was immediately drawn to the costumes over the course of the entire ceremony, from Suffragettes to the Beatles to Mary Poppins to David Bowie. In light of that, here's an analysis of a handful of my favorite costumes from the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony. And sorry, y'all, David Bowie didn't make the list.

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The first historical costumes we see in the ceremony are on villagers living in an idyllic English countryside. The costumes on the women tending the animals look like a mashup of late 18th century garb and traditional "Ye Olde England" clothing, while the men playing cricket look like they're wearing late 19th/early 20th century sportswear.

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All of these costumes are in pale, muted pastels, which fits the beautiful country setting perfectly.

Next we have the businessmen, decked out in top hats, black, blue, and grey suits, elaborate neckties, and waistcoats with pocket watches dangling from them.

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Not to mention fabulous facial hair.
Their ring leader was British actor Kenneth Branagh, the king of period drama. I love how he remained completely in character the entire time. His expressions of awe as the factories rose up around him made me feel excited and awestruck as well. His purple necktie was pretty spiffy as well.

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As the (real!) grass is stripped away and smokestacks rise up from under the ground, the factory workers enter the stage, and the Industrial Revolution is ushered in with them.

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Dark colors and rough natural fabrics are the trademark for this group. Women wear their hair in caps and kerchiefs, and the men cover their heads with hats (and in one case I spotted, a turban, representing immigration to England during the Victorian Era). The clothes seem to give off an ambiguous, nonspecific Victorian feel, but with a slight trend towards the 1830's and 40's. This group reminds me of the costumes the factory workers wear in Les Miserables

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The amount of detail on this group's costumes is very nice. We have aprons, shawls, suspenders, jackets, even a layer of grime on each person. I love that each character is totally unique.

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A group of characters that I really wish had gotten more screen time was the Suffragettes. Their costumes were very Downton Abbey, highlighting the Suffrage movement during World War I. They were little more than a blip on the screen, but a very accurate and enjoyable blip. They're dressed mainly in pastels and neutrals, with period accurate hats, accessories, and signs.

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After the opening performance, there was another presentation entitled Second to the Right and Straight on 'Till Morning, about a child's dreams and nightmares involving British children's fiction. The story is set in a children's hospital, tricked out with light-up beds and roller-skating nurses.

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The nurses' uniforms look like a combination of uniforms from the 40's and 50's and uniforms from the Edwardian era. The puffy sleeves, aprons, and collared necklines are very Edwardian, while the caps and skirts are more World War II.
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Again, the costumes are highly detailed and slightly different from one another, customized with different shades of blue, watch pins, necklaces, and my personal favorite (and frustratingly hard to find images of), sparkly hairnets.


Last, but most certainly not least, we have my favorite costume of the evening: The Mary Poppins group.

Coolest. Moment. Ever.
Here we have a pretty basic Mary Poppins costume: a white blouse and dark grey skirt under a black early Edwardian walking coat, black heeled shoes, black straw hat with a white daisy, and of course, the trademark umbrella and carpetbag.

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The above photo shows the costume in more detail from the back, and also makes me think there might be a slight sheen or sparkle to the fabric.

Source. You can always tell a proper Mary Poppins by the way she points her toes when she flies.
Though I'm not normally into sports, I really did enjoy the Opening Ceremony, and I'm very excited to cheer for my country. I hope you enjoy the rest of the Olympics as well!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Pinterest as an Historical Fashion Resource

The source for this one is pretty obvious.

If you're a fan of clicking on the source links in Decade Wednesday posts, you'll have noticed that I use images from Pinterest pretty often. I had no idea when I started researching historical fashion that Pinterest was such a rich source of information. It was such a neat experience to see how a fellow fashion history devotee had sorted fashion plates, old photographs and paintings, and pictures of authentic garments from all over the internet into one neat little board on the decade I was researching. Give it a try!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

New Look

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As you may have noticed, the blog is sporting some new duds! I'm absolutely in love with the clean, new look, and the buttons on the sidebar allow you to search for Decade Wednesday posts by era (I'll be adding new ones all the time).

Enjoy!

"This war talk's spoiling all the fun"- The 1860's

Some heartbreaking events in history took place during the 1860's. In Britain, Queen Victoria suffered the death of both her mother and her husband, Prince Albert. Her public life was effectively over; she withdrew from the political spotlight (although she carried on her duties in private), and wore black for the rest of her life.


Meanwhile, in America, a presidential election was underway. Abraham Lincoln ran against John C. Beckinridge and won by a solid majority. A short time afterwards, the American Civil War began, turning the North and South against one another. The war finally ended in 1865, only a few weeks after President Lincoln was shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth.

After the frolicking fun of the previous decade, the 1860's were a sobering dose of reality. This is reflected in the slightly plainer clothes of the era. It seems like whenever there's a major war, the economy and other factors of wartime life influence the clothing to be plainer and more built for work. We'll see this again during the end of the Edwardian Era with World War I, and again in the 40's during World War II.

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At the beginning of the 1860's, sleeves were wide near the bottom as they were in the previous decade. As the decade progressed, narrow sleeves also became popular, and both kinds of sleeves were seen commonly for day wear. Short, fitted sleeves remained par for the course in the evening.

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One thing I'm noticing about the bodices is that we've lost the v-shaped panels of fabric iconic of the 1850's. Instead, bodices are square and structured, with buttons down the front. Several gowns for both day and evening were two-piece. According to Wikipedia,

"A skirt might be made with two bodices, one long-sleeved and high neck for afternoon wear and one short-sleeved and low-necked for evening."

It appears as though bodices and skirts were sometimes mixed and matched.

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Skirts changed slightly in the early-mid decade. Instead of having volume everywhere like in the previous decade, the bulk drifted to the back of the skirt, and slight trains came into fashion.

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The fullness in the back of the skirt paired with the straight, natural a-line of the front to me looks like a forerunner for the early bustles that we'll see in the 1870's. Some skirts in this decade even look like they're supported by bustle pillows.

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Trims, although not as large or as fancy as in the 1850's, were still pretty popular for both day and evening.

Source. Looking at this dress and others that were made in the USA makes me think that silk, although still very popular, wasn't as overwhelmingly used in America as it was in Europe.

Lace seems like it's declining in popularity (perhaps by necessity). Though it's still seen on some evening dresses, it's in much smaller quantities than in the 1850's.

A gorgeous peach ballgown with a little bit of lace accent on the neckline. Also check out the trim and the buttons on the bodice.
Now, this is the fun part. Guess what I'm watching right now? Gone With the Wind. Otherwise known as the perfect movie to watch while writing this post. It's my first time watching the film, and there are two things I really love about it: 1. The way Mammy tells it like it is, and 2. Scarlett's dresses. And no post about the 1860's would be complete without a (very) mini Gone With the Wind costume analysis. Of course, I could be persuaded to do a proper one later. You never know. Here's a quick look at Scarlett's first two costumes in the film.

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Scarlett's first costume is stuck in my mind. It's very late 1850's, with tiers and ruffles and a massive hoop skirt. The bodice also foreshadows the mid 1860's with its buttons in the front. For some reason, though, the bodice does feel a little 1930's-40's to me. Maybe it's the red belt. Or the hair. Either way, I still love this puffy cloud of a dress.

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The green and white gown that Scarlett wears to the picnic at Twelve Oaks is my family's pick for favorite costume in the film thus far (we're halfway through the epic 4-hour film). The ruffles-and-bows neckline is very accurate, as is the print. The pointed end to the bodice is another hallmark of the late 50's-early 60's, although I'm not 100% sure about the silk sash. The gauzy material isn't exactly period, but it is really pretty, and it moves beautifully.

Hair was worn parted down the middle, in low buns often involving braids and ringlets. In the evening, they were decorated with ribbons, flowers, and other fun doodads.
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During the day, hair was often gathered into hairnets. Said hairnets were sometimes decorated with ribbons or small pearls.

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When most people think "Victorian fashion," they think of bustles, tiny fascinators, button-up boots, and a plethora of things iconic of the last three decades of the 19th century. Next week, we'll see the beginning of that era. For now, because I can't bear to have a post without a painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, I'll leave you with one of his most famous works, a portrait of Empress Elisabeth of Austria painted during the 1860's.

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Monday, July 23, 2012

Historical Dress Up Games

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I have a confession to make. I love playing dress up games online. It's a way to let my childish side run rampant and to relax for a while. It ranks right up there with fan fiction for the top spot on my list of internet guilty pleasures. So, without further adieu, here are a few historically accurate games that I keep coming back to over and over again.

The Tudors Scene Maker has a huge amount of items hailing from the late 16th and early 17th centuries for both male and female characters, who can be customized and arranged in scenes. The combinations and possibilities are endless.

Savivi on DeviantArt.com created four great games: Regency Hero, Regency Heroine, 18th Century, and Soulless Victorian. All of them have great art quality, great clothes, and are greatly enjoyable.

Last but not least, we have my favorite game on the list, Erte Elegance, which allows you to build your own 1920s evening gown. It's deliciously glamorous, and you can tell that the creator of the game really did their research. 


Bonus Round: It won't be out for another month or so (unless you happen to have a subscription to Dolldivine.com, in which case you can play the beta testing version), but the Dandy Maker looks like it will be a doozy. According to the preview image, there's a whole section of the game devoted to cravats. Sign me up.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Book Review: Fashion Sourcebook 1920's

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A couple months ago, I found myself working on a costume project that required a pretty extensive knowledge of the 1920's. Being the relative costume novice that I was (and still am, to some extent), I really only had a smattering of expertise about the Regency and Victorian eras, and next to no knowledge about the 20th century. So I decided (mostly out of necessity) to become an expert on the era overnight. After exhausting every resource on the internet, I turned to books, and this gem came into my life.

Fashion Sourcebook 1920's by Charlotte Fiell and Emmanuelle Dirix is an enormous brick of gold for fashion history enthusiasts, with pages upon pages of design sketches and photographs from the era, separated into categories of Daywear, Eveningwear, Outerwear, Accessories, and much more. It gives a clear look of both high fashion and everyday clothing in the Roaring 20's that's both educational and fun. There's also an informative forward with a comprehensive look at the elements of early 20th century life that shaped the world of fashion.

Another great feature of the book that I loved was the designer's index in the back, with a short biography of each designer, and a list of where their designs appear throughout the 576 page book. My favorite designer in the book is Atelier Bachroitz, whose feminine, whimsical, but still totally modern designs stood out among the sleek, straight lines of his contemporaries.
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Fashion Sourcebook 1920's is a helpful and truly enjoyable resource. It was a lifesaver for my work, and an incredible addition to my ever-growing fashion history library. Find out more about the book at its website, and click here to purchase.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Belles and Bells- The 1850's

Gorgeous painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter.

After the slight dip that was seen in the 1840's, the 1850's brought accessorizing and decorating back with a vengeance.


The pointed waist that we saw in the 1840's remained popular in the 1850's, monopolizing evening wear and remaining very, very popular until the end of the decade and the early 1860's, when it disappeared without a trace.
Absolutely breathtaking. It looks like lace was a popular accent in the late 1840's and 1850's.
The off-the-shoulder neckline, seen in both of the above images, carried over from the 1840's and remained very popular in evening wear for the entire decade. While digging around various places on the internet, I've also seen one or two instances of off-the-shoulder sleeves in day wear.
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By about 1854-55, another development came in the bodice for day wear. Panels of fabric that started at the shoulders and crossed over in a v-shape to the waistline became iconic of the 1850's and 60's.  As well as fabric that matched the rest of the dress, lace shawls provided the same shape.

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Also by about the middle of the decade, the sleeves on day dresses changed. In the 1840's, sleeves were narrow and natural the whole way down, but by 1854-55, they widened significantly at the bottom, and sometimes had a puffy sleeve underneath that gathered at the wrist.


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In the latter half of the decade, bold prints and patterns were popular for both day and night.


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So, you may have noticed that I'm saving the best part of the garment for last here. It's (almost) literally the elephant in the room. Since the late 1820's, the skirts have been rapidly growing, from narrow to conical to bell shaped to what we now have; nearly spherical skirts supported by hoops, crinolines, flounces, anything that will support their staggering girth. They're like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man of historical fashion, deliciously enormous and totally out of control. And strangely enough, I sort of like it. The skirts were heavily decorated with flounces, trims, lace, bows, and anything the Victorian and Antebellum women could think of to stick on them.


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The hairstyles of the era were pretty nondescript, usually being a simple braided bun at the back of the head or the nape of the neck. Sometimes ringlets or spaniel curls were worn to frame the face, shown in the first image. Here's a really easy tutorial for an 1850's inspired hairstyle.

Another gem by FXW. Check out the sleeves as well.
Next week, we get a look at the 1860's, when the fun, ridiculous frippery of this decade gets taken down a notch by a little downer known as the American Civil War. I have to say, as crazy as this decade was, it was also pretty fun. I'll definitely miss researching it. A little nerdy part of me would love to see a woman from the 1830's and a woman from the 1850's duke it out to see who could be more over-the-top. And the best part is, I still can't quite decide who would win.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Slightly Sensible- The 1840's

A handful of hallmark moments in world history took place in the 1840's. Queen Victoria married Prince Albert on February 10th, 1840, a milestone in one of the most beautiful and interesting real-life romances in history. Later that year, Edward Oxford attempted to assassinate the queen while she and Albert were riding in a carriage (and contrary to the end of "The Young Victoria," nobody was hurt). There were two more attempts on the Queen's life before the decade was out (and one attempt to shoot her with a pistol stuffed with tobacco. I don't get it, Wikipedia), and another in 1850. Meanwhile, in the United States, President William Henry Harrison died after a whopping thirty days in office, and his Vice President John Tyler took over the office, earning the nickname "His Accidency."

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Despite the ever-present confusion and chaos in the political world, the 1840's saw a return to something like simplicity and sanity in fashion. For instance, the astronomically high levels of poof located around the sleeves narrowed down to a slimmer, more natural style, commonly going off the shoulder.

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It's a little hard to see in the above picture, but check out the pointed tip of the bodice at the waist. This became very popular very early in the decade (mostly for eveningwear, it looks like), and once it was there, it was there to stay.

Samantha Tuck is my homegirl.
A slight change in the shape of skirts surfaced near the middle of the 1840's. They were slowly gaining volume, from the narrow, natural skirts of the Regency to the conical skirts of the 1830's, and now grew to a bell-shape, making way for the hoop skirts that would come later in the 1850's and 60's.

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While it seems like short to elbow-length sleeves are still the norm for evening, and long sleeves are the norm for daywear, it looks to me like colored silk is coming back into fashion for the day, which is something we haven't seen overwhelmingly since the late 1780's - early 1790's.

Gorgeous.
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One thing you may have noticed from the first two images in this post is that we have a new hairstyle on our hands. Gone are the wide and tall, accessory-decked curls of the 1830's. During the 1840's, hair was worn parted down the middle and pulled into a bun at the back, with full, long ringlets framing the face. This is sometimes referred to as "spaniel curls."

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Source. Check out the off-the-shoulder sleeves in both images.
A slightly fuller version.
Now this is the fun part. I get to introduce you all to a good friend of mine. His name is Franz Xaver Winterhalter, and he is (was, whatever) the most amazing court painter that ever lived.

Check out the pointed waist, off-the-shoulder sleeves, bell skirt, spaniel curls, and what looks like Spanish lace accents.
Victoria herself.
This is only his early work, you guys. He did portraits of almost every European royal for the latter half of the 19th century, and he only gets better with practice. And most of his subjects are women in gorgeous dresses. Jackpot.

Next week we get a look at the 1850's, a decade full of... well, fullness. The hoop skirt, the bell sleeves, and tiers and patterns galore. Even after a slight return to sense in fashion, the general grandeur of the past few decades in comparison with the simplicity of where we began leaves me in awe of how drastically things can change in 50 years.

See you next week.