Dreaming of Dior

My mother's best friend gave me this beautiful book over the weekend. It's titled "Dreaming of Dior" by Charlotte Smith. Ms. Smith is a socialite of the world having lived in London, France, New York, Hong Kong, etc., and finally settling in Australia. She's the grand-daughter of a rich American Quaker, Doris Darnell, who bequethed to Charlotte her whole vintage clothing collection. Now, this clothing collection is not like my vintage clothing collection. This collection has THOUSANDS of items in it, all given to her. Doris didn't buy a thing. This is a wardrobe to envy.

Charlotte decided to create a book about the adventures of all these garments. "Every dress tells a story." Each page is devoted to the story behind the dress, with illustrations done by Grant Cowan. Most of them I envy, but in the end it's a great book for inspiration.

Pattern Magic

I know I've been a bit obsessed with books recently. But I LOVE books! There is a book on absolutely everything, and they are so interesting. I love having a large collection - sometimes I forget what I have, but that just makes it so much more surprising when I find the the book again!

My newest purchase is a stunning pattern book called "Pattern Magic" by Tomoko Nakamichi. It's a japanese pattern book on how to create garments with sculptural elements to them. Taking inspiration from nature, from geometric shapes and from the street, this book harnesses the sheer joy of making and sculpting clothes. 

There is also a "Pattern Magic 2", which I just pre-ordered. These garments are absolutely gorgeous and the patterns will come in handy with costumes. You never know when you need something sculptural to make a statement on stage! Or on the street!!

W. B. Lord

I've got a few books on the go, but the one that I find most interesting (and applicable to what I do) is "The Corset & The Crinoline: An Illustrated History" by W. B. Lord. It was originally published in 1868, and outlines the history of corsetry from the natives in India all the way to 1867 and the Artistic Dress Movement.

If you are interested in corsetry and the history of fashion, I highly recommend this book. It is surprisingly quite easy to read, although the language is a bit flourished due to the style of writing back then. It's incredibly informative with fantastic sketches that illustrate what is described.

That is SO 80s

I'm obsessed with this book of photographs by Patrick McMullan. So 80s is a 'photographic diary of a decade' and is FULL of inspiration and amazing photos. People like Anna Nicole Smith, Madonnna, Betsey Johnson, Patricia Field, Debby Harry, and much more are represented in this photo collection from parties and events. Some are even dirty and disgusting, and remind me of the type of facebook photos we all regret the day after. I highly recommend y'all take a look at this book. Everything that they're wearing is now in high fashion, and its' great inspiration to make interesting outfits.

Desmond Caddgan at Area (3/10/1984), Guest at Peri Lister's Birthday Party at the Cat Club (10/04/1984), Club Boy at the Palladium (1985), "Bat Boy" at the Pyramid Club, (20/05/1984)

Stephen Saban and Ellen Kinnally with friends at Danceteria, December 1983

Andrea Bouzwa at the Cat Club (20/08/1985), Peter Quendo and Miriam Bendahan at the XTC Party at the Sensory Evolution Gallery (20/08/1985), Martin Burgone and Maripol at the John "Jellybean" Benitez Party at Private Eyes (29/09/1985)

Linda Lust and Tommy Gun at Area, July 1984

James St. James as Leigh Bowery, 1986

Perri Lister at the Milk Bar, November 1985

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this cute polka dot outfit. I think it's one for the sewing table.

The Curse of the Corset Pattern

Yesterday and today have been hell. I've been trying to figure out the corset patterns in "Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques" by Jill Salen, and alter them to fit some custom orders. It's been a disaster. First of all I'm trying to create a pattern for an underbust corset with straps for my first order - I thought the Black Corset with Blue Flossing from 1890 (looks like a modern day bustier) would work, skipping the bust gussets, but the waist is ridiculously small and the boobs seem to fit halfway down the waist. Hmm...that's not really normal. So I altered the measurements to see how it'd fit, and then even created a proto-type out of muslin to figure out the shape. It looked like poo, for lack of a better word. The back was saggy and the sides didn't sit right. I think I just messed around with it too much, and the pattern was wrong to begin with. But I think I've figured it out. If I put the front of this pattern with the sides and back of the Tudor style corset, then I get a Tudor Style underbust corset with a busk in the front. Pretty good I think, but not the style the order was for.

Using the back and strap of the Tudor Style corset, and the front of the 1890 corset with bust gussets, I redrew the side piece of the Tudor Style corset to fit both pieces. Seam allowances are only on the back piece, as I did not draw them on the side and front pieces.

So, I looked at the other patterns to see if I could alter another. One pattern I adore - it's the Black and Yellow Flossed Corset (1890-1900). It looks simple and has straight lines. But then I realized that the pattern cuts all the bones in half! That doesn't make any sense! So I had to redraw the pattern with the bones in full, or I could just use two 6mm bones instead of one 9mm bone and change up the style a bit but keep the same pattern. Oi. Confusing!

The Original vs. My re-draw

Original Pattern: See how there are boning channels on both sides of the pattern pieces? Well, they are supposed to be one channel, not two.

My redraw: I took off the boning channel on the right side of each piece and extended the boning channel on the left side of each piece to fit the full bone so they aren't cut in half. I also added the seam allowances.

So for the order, I will try to extend the back so it has straps and then cut down the bottom. The type of corset my customer wants goes to the hips, so an amalgamation of this corset plus the underbust and shoulder straps should work. I just want to figure out if this pattern works as it is before I go messing about with it again.

I also looked at the underbust riding corset - and the same thing happens! The seams split the channels in half. But this time there are supposed to be seams in the middle of the bones, but how I was taught how to create channels for bones, this technique doesn't work. Oi. I could do the same and redraw the pattern with full bones, or use two 6mm bones instead of one 9mm. With the riding corset, I think I'll use the two 6mm instead of redrawing the whole thing. Plus, it's only an underbust, so a little more detailing would be nice.

Again, see how there are boning channels on both sides of the seam? In the real corset, the seam does exist in the middle of the boning channel, but that's now how I know how to make corsets.

I need to wait a few days for all my supplies to arrive to actually figure out if these patterns work. I also need to go buy more muslin and canvas, as all this experimenting will eat away at my supplies. But I think that now, after I've sat and fiddled with these patterns, I'll be able to get something together. This experience has taught me a lot, and I'll be keeping the final patterns safe so I don't have to go through this again.

Also, if you have ANY idea how these patterns work - please leave a comment! Thanks.