Monday, December 27, 2010

Resources for those in OR and WA

Oregon Regency Society has a nice resource list.

Somewhere in Time Unlimited, Seattle, WA does historic events, and has a good resource list

Lavendar's Green based in Hillsboro, Oregon does custom costumes. They also do consulting!

If you know of any custom costumers in Oregon or Washington, please let me know.

Clothing for Mothers of Young Children

Mainly I am referring to clothing for the expectant or breastfeeding mother.
There have always been young mothers in society, but what they wore has not always been passed from one generation to another. In some cases their normal clothes were adjusted to their needs, in other cases specialty clothing was made.

Fashions of Motherhood by Colonial Williamsburg discuses the maternity fashions of the 18th century.

Much has been written about how convinent a high empire waisted dress is for the expectant mother, to this day it is the staple of Maternity wear. The fashions of the Regency time were far more forgiving to the growing figgure than those that preceded it for centuries.


As a mother myself I have looked into what was worn and even tried recreating some items.

My advice to Guests who will be, or may become pregnant is that the Regency fashion is likely a better bet for you as it is easier to adjust to a changing shape and can be easier for nursing too.
For Nursing mother, I would suggest you look for the "Drop Front" or Apron Front" style of gown.

Jennie Chancey of Sense and Sensibility patterns gave a way to modify her patterns to be a drop front.

The Hungarian Chick has one of the best blog posts on this type of gown that I have seen, check out the pattern list on the bottom!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Childrens clothes of the 18th century, basic info

In the 18th century children's clothing resembled their parents for the most part, just like today's child wears jeans a t-shirt just like the adults.
But there were also styles that were exclusive to children that adults did not wear, just as today's adult does not wear onesies. (Okay I know that a woman's body suit is very similar to a baby's onesie, and yes you can find rompers made for adult too, but as a basic rule, they are not the staples of an adult wardrobe as much as they are of the infants wardrobe.)

Little boys would wear dresses until they were breeched which occurred between the ages of 2 and 7 years. boys dress style is slightly different from girls dress style. the main difference could be seen in hair and headwear.
Why did little boys wear dresses? Well the bigest practicle reason is for the ease of changing a diaper, and later potty training. In the later half of the century a new style for boys came about. these were called Skeleton Suits and the pants buttoned on to the top. I would guess that these were for boys who were fully potty trained as there are a lot of buttons to undo to get the pants off.

Girls dresses differed from women's in the fact that a girls dress closed in the back, where as most women's gowns closed in the front. Leading strings or ribbons which hang from the shoulder are also the mark of a young girl's dress.

For more information see Colonial Williamsburg's article on children's clothes

Childrens Fashions 1700-1750 on Wikipedia
Childrens Fashions 1750-1795 on Wikipedia

Who, What, When, Where, Why & How

The basic info for this blog.

Who?
Amanda and Family and Friends

What?
Costumed party to celebrate 30 years of fabulous-ness!

When?
Saturday November 19th, 2011

Where?
TBA in the SF bay area of California.

Why?
Why a party? Why not? People come up with all reasons to throw parties.
Why a costume party? Because Amanda loves historical costumes. The theme for this one is 18th Century (1700-1800) Extended to include the often called Regency or Empire Period (1790-1820)
Why a blog? To keep track of all the stuff. No really it is a place for me to post info about costuming, dress diaries of the costumes I am making, and general info updatyness.

How?
Dress up and party, how much simpler could it be. Read this blog. If you start a blog to share your progress in costuming for this event, send a link and we will put you on the sidebar!