/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

[Anonymous No.8334569]

Historical costume and fashion thread?

Anything you're working on right now? Any plans for the future?

Any recommendations for shops hat sell nicely made custom or premade historical clothing, particulary 18th or 19th century?

Do you wear historical costume outside of special events?

[Anonymous No.8334756]

>>8334569
>Any recommendations for shops that sell nicely made custom or premade historical clothing, particularly 18th or 19th century?
On that note, anyone know of any good shops that sell wide women's 19th century style shoes?

[Anonymous No.8334770]

>>8334756
http://www.quite-contrary.org/cost_supp_shoes.php

here's a list of shops that sell historical style shoes. Not sure if you'll be able to find wide ones, though. I have extra wide feet and I've pretty much resigned myself to having shoes that stick out.

[Anonymous No.8334794]

>>8334770
Thanks. I have extra wide feet, too, but extra wide shoes are too much to hope for.

Arrow through the heart seeing American Duchess listed prominently--I love their shoes so much.

[Anonymous No.8335635]

I used to wear bits of my reenactor stuff around the house. Never full out gowns but linen blouses and knickers made for really comfy summer wear when I didn't have AC.

I'd really love to make more gowns but I don't have a reason for them anymore.

[Anonymous No.8335820]

My dream costume is Marie Antoinette from the anime Rose Of Versailles. I really love the look of the pullip doll. Urg just so much money.

[Anonymous No.8336637]

I wish I could find groups in my area interested in the civilian side of the 18th century. All I can find are military re-enactor groups.

[Anonymous No.8336906]

>>8336637
Look into historical dance. My area has a fairly large group of people interested in in the 18th century and they hold large balls every few months. Of course the majority of them are older folks, but I see no reason that should bother you.

Although I imagine it depends on where you are located. I am on the east coast.

[Anonymous No.8336930]

I'd totally wear this

[Anonymous No.8336934]

[Anonymous No.8336938]

>>8336906
That sounds absolutely amazing. I used to go swing dancing which was mostly older folks but it was still loads of fun and gave me an excuse to wear pin-up (not that I need an excuse, pin-up is even more wearable than my lolita). Old people can actually be super interesting... Just remember to scurry away if they start talking politics.

[Anonymous No.8336940]

>>8336934
>mfw

[Anonymous No.8336951]

>>8336938
See what you can find, if you have any places that do historical reenactment (historical houses, farms ect.) ask someone there if they know.

I do the historical dance through my local SCA chapter but most people also do the 18th century so if you can't find info otherwise look into the SCA.

Hey hey I also do swing dancing and wear lolita (retro style so I wear it to both). The older swing dancers always have moves I've never seen.

You do happen to live near Philadelphia do you? I'd love a dancing/lolita/historical buddy.

[Anonymous No.8336983]

>>8336951
Unfortunately, I'm stuck in the armpit of the US, AKA Florida. You'd better believe we'd be meeting up soon if I lived near Philly, though. It's really cool that there's so many fun history-related events there.

You've definitely made me want to move to Philly even more than I already did! I visited the city last summer and fell in love with it. Pic related, we don't have cool shit like that on random street corners where I'm from.

[Anonymous No.8336994]

>>8336930
I feel like a fool for thinking this wasn't a copy of an existing painting.

[Anonymous No.8337268]

>>8336934
Oh god that is waaay too out of place and truly crosses into costume rather than fashion.

[Anonymous No.8338632]

>>8334794
9 1/2 extra wide here, I share your pain.

[Anonymous No.8338641]

>>8336994
The artist of that piece literally states with that picture that it was inspired by >>8336930. It was part of the disney colouring-book challenge.

[Anonymous No.8338647]

>>8338641
No, that's from the Art of Disney Princess book. It's a unique illustration, not from a coloring book.

[Lilitu !!xrorRTcEU5x No.8338803]

>>8334756
>http://www.american-duchess.com
Has a few.there isn't a wide selection of colors but they sell the dyes to remedy that. I only have a friend of mine has the Ponpadour and Antoinette (I know wrong century) ones for Lolita purposes and she loves them and is looking at some of their others for more daily wear.

[Anonymous No.8339058]

Does anyone own any old (let's say 1920s and older) fashion accessories or pieces of clothing? I have few fans from the 19th century, though not this particular one.

[Anonymous No.8339645]

>>8338803
Unfortunately, as I lamented above, this shop does not carry wide shoes.

[Anonymous No.8339756]

>>8339058
I have an 1890s bustier which I love, but can't really wear since it was made for someone with a tiny rib cage. (I weigh 115 pounds at 5'6' and it still doesn't fit because of my stupid ribs. I can wear it maybe a couple hours if I'm not in the mood to breathe.) Also a cape from the 1920s that I love!

[Anonymous No.8339948]

>>8338632
I am in between a 9 and 9 1/2. My feet are wide but I tend to size up to 9 1/2 because it's so hard to find good wide shoes. My feet look awful in anything that isn't pointy or at least tapered at the toe. I would love to wear cute rounded shoes but my feet look like flippers when I do.

I am glad there are other big footed ladies out there.

[Anonymous No.8340288]

>tfw fucked up feet/legs make it impossible to have anything remotely resembling cute shoes, much less historical ones

but at least I have the goal of recreating Couthon's weird wheelchair

[Anonymous No.8341204]

>>8340288
love this!

[Anonymous No.8341446]

Anybody else is really sad that theornamentedbeing (aka the girl in OP's picture) deleted her tumblr?

[Anonymous No.8341649]

>>8341446
Yeah. I'm not totally surprised since she stopped doing costuming, what, 2 or more years ago when she became a flight attendant? I remember reading a post she had on Tumblr about how her university program basically killed her love of costuming because of all the drama and politics involved.

[Anonymous No.8341709]

>>8336637
>used to work for museum
>several events through year including tea, picnic, Christmas party and such
>covered everything from colonial period up through 1960s depending on event
>was the costume collection keeper so had full run of clothing that could be used (I made repros of the pre-1940s stuff for event use though)
>moved cross country
>all events here are Civil War battle-and-ball weekends or terrible hipster swing dances
>all i want is a nice 1770s chocolate party please

[Anonymous No.8341721]

>>8339058
I have a 1910s little girl's dress, though obviously I don't wear that. Also a lot of little doll dresses from around the same time. I also have a long-ass strand of porcelain pearls from the 20s, paid a quarter for them at a flea market/estate sale thing.

[Anonymous No.8341725]

>>8341446
Is that what happened? She just kind of disappeared off my feed, I didn't see anything about her deleting.

[Anonymous No.8341735]

>>8341649
>university program basically killed her love of costuming because of all the drama and politics involved.


Way to let the assholes win. Just ensures everyone in the program is an asshole if you don't remain and be the oasis in a dessert.

But hey, taking the abuse is hard. I get that.

[Anonymous No.8341757]

>>8336934
Of course it's a bloody costume

>out of place

Literally taken at a palace

[Anonymous No.8341762]

>>8341725
her tumblr is listed as deactivated

[Anonymous No.8341770]

It seems like most historical re-enactor groups/events in the USA are civil War or vaguely medieval, while 18th century events are popular in England and France. Hmm.

[Anonymous No.8341772]

>>8341735
Legit question for any anons that could help. Lets say I want to get a degree of some form that basically qualifies me as a costume curator. Not a costume maker, but someone who can assess and preserve extant clothing for a museum. What the heck would that be considered as far as university courses go? I can't find a good answer online but maybe someone here does it?

[Anonymous No.8341783]

>>8341770
We have 18th century, but its focused on scrappy revolutionaries fighting battles. No one wants to be the overthrown aristocracy. Its kind of funny because no one gives two craps about the British being overpowered during the American Revolution, but the same people go gaga over Marie Antoinette.
>i mean the french did go a biiiiit farther with their revolution than we did but
>you'd think tumblr would be all for throwing off the shackles of oppression or whatever

[Anonymous No.8341817]

>>8341770
Turn of the 19th century (Regency balls/Jane Austen fandom) is fairly popular in the US, and you get Dickens-y stuff at Christmas. SCA type quasi-medieval and Civil War are the most common, but there's more out there if you're interested.

[Anonymous No.8341820]

>>8341783
>you'd think tumblr would be all for throwing off the shackles of oppression or whatever

Depends on who you're talking about on Tumblr really. Most of the French Revolutionary blogs I've followed don't like Marie Antoinette. I've seen multiple people reblog posts about things like Marie Antoinette's abused-to-death-by-revolutionaries son and say they don't feel bad for the 'fucking pampered brat' or complain that people make posts marking the death of her friend that was brutally bludgeoned to death.

I think it could be argued that the main difference is personal history. French people are more likely to be less sympathetic/caring about people from the ancien regime, regardless of their personal culpability in the wide gap between the French peasants and the aristocracy, because that's their country's history. Whereas an American would be more sensitive to the British in revolutionary America being portrayed sympathetically.

>i mean the french did go a biiiiit farther with their revolution than we did but

just a biiiiiiiiiit

[Anonymous No.8341836]

>>8341772
There is no one degree that would qualify you as a curator, really. Most curators for costume departments at museums have more than one degree and loads of experience in multiple aspects of costume/fashion. Look for courses, degrees and programs in things like fashion design, textile science, historic preservation/conservation, museum studies, fashion history... you want to be able to understand how garments are constructed, how they can be repaired/conserved, the historical context of the garments, how to work in a museum field, etc.

[Anonymous No.8342430]

[Anonymous No.8342448]

>>8341820
>'fucking pampered brat'
are those history blogs or just tumblr teenies spelunking up their own assholes as per usual? Because if it's the former, I'm shocked how people like that are even interested in history past popsci and did-yuo-kno. How disrespectful, history is supposed to be an unbiased record of past events. Now I know that in practice it's far from it but at least have a bit more tact, jesus...

[Anonymous No.8342456]

>>8341649
>because of all the drama and politics involved
What kind?

[Anonymous No.8342566]

>>8342448
history blogs. I've noticed quite a few of the more hostile history blogs are somewhat older people with history degrees. Sometimes I wonder if the hostility is the perception that anyone who disagrees with them--a degree holder, my god!--must just be an uneducated sap obsessed with pretty dresses.

I mean, I think there is a point to be made about the fact that popular histories focus more on the "pretty" victims of the revolution versus the "unwashed masses" who were the victims of the ancien regime, but calling a young child who was mentally and physically abused for years a "fucking brat" because they happened to be royalty, or trying to downplay the brutal murder of a woman solely for her connection to someone who happened to be royalty, isn't the way to go.

[Anonymous No.8342569]

>>8342566
Not to mention that Antoinette herself had merely been a victim of the circumstances, so taking it out on her child of all people is just...

[Anonymous No.8342586]

>>8342569
I would say she was and she wasn't. She was a victim of circumstances in that she couldn't help what station she was born into, and she did what she could within the confines of her station, and almost everything negative said about her (then and now) wasn't really true. She didn't bankrupt the government, she didn't spend all that much compared to the rest of the royals who weren't vilified for their own expenses, she didn't plan to bathe in the blood of the French, and so on. And there was really no excuse or precedent for executing her, when at the time of her trial they had no evidence of her dealings with foreign powers, and as a queen consort she had no power.

But during the revolution she chose to be an active player in the efforts to undermine the new government and regain more control and respect for the king and monarchy. In her attempt at being an active player, she was playing both sides, secretly writing to foreign powers, etc.

[Anonymous No.8342595]

anyone have any more recreations of mourning dresses? whatever era

[Anonymous No.8342602]

>>8342595

[Anonymous No.8342605]

>>8342602

[Anonymous No.8342612]

[Anonymous No.8342614]

[Anonymous No.8342663]

>>8342595
>>8342602
>>8342605
This is my fetish.

[Anonymous No.8342672]

>>8342663
http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/death-becomes-her

shame they never did an exhibition book for this

[Anonymous No.8343307]

>>8341817
>>8341770

Where I am Revolutionary War is much more common. I like the fashion and politics of the American Civil War a bit more--see the mourning dresses below, totally drool worthy, but this works too. You tend to get one or the other depending on the area. We have a lot of Revolutionary War historic sites as the Civil War never touched my state. However, you can also go out west (where there were no battles in the Civil War) and they're totally invested for one reason or another.

>>8341772
I would say you have two major options if you are looking for a curatorial role rather than a construction role. For creating costumes, say for a living history museum, you would need to know advanced sewing and draping, pattern making, and have historical knowledge or at least the research skills to learn about a particular period. Many individuals with this job have a background in theatre design or related. This is what I would love to do, but alas my sewing skills are sub par so I've resorted to the curatorial side.

To become a textiles curator either:
1. Go to school for historic textiles. a number of schools exist that have programs relating to historic costume/textiles. URI, FIT, NYU, and a number of other schools have degree programs. Look for one that has a museum at the school or nearby with a good costume collection.
2. Volunteer/work your way through the museum system. Cater your experience/skills towards textiles/costume. Go to small museums and ask if you can do a small project with their textile collection (research, cataloging) then take that experience and do a larger project somewhere else. Eventually you will make contacts and gain experience. Try to get internships/volunteerships in related fields such as conservation, etc.

Sorry for the novel. This is just what I have seen in my experience so far. Keep in mind that the field is overwhelmed with too many people with too few jobs, so you may not get the job you want right away.

[Anonymous No.8343772]

Does anyone have any recommendations for books about people who wear historical clothing or historical re-enactment?

I found the following (plus the book in the image)

>Victorian Secrets: What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself by Sarah A. Chrisman

>Man of War: My Adventures in the World of Historical Reenactment by Charlie Schroeder

[Anonymous No.8343865]

>>8343772
Confederates in the Attic is pretty good

[Anonymous No.8343892]

>>8342456
Assuming her experiences were similar to mine, the program is usually a small group of people who sit in front of sewing machines and history books all day and have nothing to talk about but gossip. Drama happens and of course there's going to be personal conflicts between the people in the program. Small program size magnifies the effect.

[Anonymous No.8343905]

>>8342595

[Anonymous No.8343916]

>>8339058
A top hat and a bowler of my great grandfather, from early 1920s, I think. The bowler hat is in a mint condition, he wore it only once or twice. The top hat needed some mending, but it's still in a good shape.

[Anonymous No.8344293]

>>8343772
Not non-fiction, but Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink was cute.

[Anonymous No.8345999]

bump

[Anonymous No.8346322]

>>8336934
What's the name of the dress on the girl third from the left with brown hair/white tights?

[Anonymous No.8347170]

I want so make some regency short stays one day (that is, once I become experienced at sewing), they look comfortable and like they won't stretch out like a bra with elastic. Have any of you made your own corset/ structural undergarments before? How did you find it?

[Anonymous No.8347233]

>>8347170
I'm making one now. Not exactly historically accurate but it's one from my pattern stash that I already had. Also very simple. Once I finish with this one I'll try a better pattern and possibly hand sew for finishing.

I've found that it's a lot easier than I anticipated. I'm using zip ties for boning rather than actual boning material. The great thing is that the foot of the machine is "1/4 as is the boning so it is very easy to make channels. It's also great because there are no sleeves.

I'm a beginner-beginner intermediate sewer so if you have enough common sense and pattern reading skills you could likely start with an easy one, pic related, and then progress to a more correct historical pattern.

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347912]

>>8342672
I'm bored currently at my hostel. I'm going to go ahead and dump photos I took with my iPhone from the exhibition.

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347916]

>>8347912

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347922]

>>8347916

[Anonymous No.8347923]

>>8347170

the hardest part is getting the fit right. take all your measurements twice and make a couple mock ups to check fit before cutting out the multiple layers of everything. Construction wise, if you're careful, it can be tedious but it's not too difficult. Short stays don't have a hip curve so that'll work in your favor, in terms of being easier.

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347924]

>>8347922

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347930]

>>8347924

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347931]

>>8347930

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347935]

>>8347931

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347942]

>>8347935

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347944]

>>8347942

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347947]

>>8347944

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347964]

>>8347947

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347968]

>>8347964

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347970]

>>8347968

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347974]

>>8347970

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347978]

>>8347974

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347981]

>>8347978

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347984]

>>8347981

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347989]

>>8347984

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347992]

>>8347989

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8347998]

>>8347992

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8348003]

>>8347998

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8348009]

>>8347998

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8348011]

>>8348009

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8348016]

>>8348011

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8348020]

>>8348016

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8348025]

>>8348020

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8348031]

>>8348025

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8348035]

>>8348031
Ok that's all. Good night.

[Anonymous No.8348117]

Does anyone else ever wish that mourning fashion being seen as normal still existed, beyond wearing black at a funeral and burial? After my dad died I wore black for several months and people thought there was something mentally wrong with me.

[Anonymous No.8348543]

>>8342595
My grandmother had a beautiful Civil War era mourning set she made, complete with crocheted lace shawl and a bonnet and veil. I wonder if my mom still has them. Tempted to ask her to send them to me.

[Anonymous No.8348573]

>>8343307
Curator anon here. I do have experience, I should have said that. But all my experience is with volunteer only small budget museums on the east coast, and I've moved to the west coast so none of my contacts are useful out here. I was actually in charge of my home museum's textile collection when I left, but it was less of a "you have the most experience" and more of a "you are literally the only person who cares about dresses".

I started there as a tour guide and there was no one in charge of the clothing at all, and most everything had been sitting in the same spot for 30 years with next to no protection. I mean it was bad. There was a 1940s wedding gown that was dryrotting from daily sun exposure because someone set it in front of a window, the veil literally turned to dust. There was a full trosseau of 1880s bodices and skirts hung up on wire hangers and crushed into a 8 inch space in one of the closets. There was a pile of 1910s cotton dresses that had tears in the waistband and elbows from decades of tour guides wearing them because "theyre just cotton". And every quilt, tablecloth, and bedlinen had been sitting exactly the same since 1970, with insane amounts of dust and fading. I got our larger 'sister' museum to teach me enough to get it cleaned, protected, and displayed or stored. When I moved, there were rotated displays and UV curtains in the fashion rooms and padded-to-fit custom dress forms for everything, plus a written tour spiel and an inventory of what dresses were what period, because they only had them numbered but with no description of what they were. But every museum I've tried out here is paid-only, and they won't take you on in any higher capacity unless you're qualified. And I've even been told when I bring up my past experience that without being qualified there is no chance of me starting at a lower position and moving up. Maybe its just different out here but its very disheartening since its been my life since I was 16.

[Anonymous No.8348591]

>>8347912
I think I love you.
Btw I have a bunch of pictures of the Star Wars exhibit at the EMP. Obviously they're not historical costumes but should I make a thread to dump them? I don't have all of the costumes but I have some major ones.

[Anonymous No.8348599]

>>8348117
In Eastern Europe it's still done that way. 40 days iirc, some people even go the full monty and stop listening to music, singing and dancing

[Anonymous No.8348672]

Hey, I'm not sure if this is the right thread for this, but since there's no history board, and y'all seem to at least have a passing interest in history, I was wondering if any of you might know what the circular, wrought-iron candle fixtures were called that were suspended from the rafters of medieval buildings.

[Funk Brothers !!sEQILr75Rya No.8348915]

>>8348591
Let's go on a rococo date sometime, Anon. We'll drink tea and eat little sandwiches while dressed in our big pannier gowns. Hope you enjoy lolita.

[Anonymous No.8348928]

>>8348672
They're chandeliers, but that term didn't come into wide use until several centuries later... I don't know if there's a specific medieval term for that specific style, but I can't find any.

here's a place with a bunch of links re: medieval lighting, maybe you'll have better luck than I did! http://www.larsdatter.com/candleholders.htm

[Anonymous No.8349017]

>>8348915
I'm actually in the process of getting rid of all my lolita stuff. Maybe it just isn't meant to be~

[Anonymous No.8349453]

>>8348573
I'm in a very similar position (I am the anon that you're replying to). I've been working in a related field for a few years now (also on the east coast) and taking classes relating to museum studies as I cannot volunteer full time and make a living, which is what most museum people say is the best way into museums. I've had a few stints at local museums but will likely need to get an MA to get a real job that is not just docent work. Regardless of how many collections related internships I've had, I will not be as qualified as the many veteran candidates out of work and looking at the same positions.

Part of the problem is the influx of students with "Museum Studies" degrees which half the time are money-making schemes by universities. I highly recommend that if you do go back to school to get a leg-up, you go for a degree in the area of focus you're interested (textiles, material culture) and skip most of the museum studies programs unless they are a part of a larger degree.

I'm sure you can find some museum to volunteer at if you have the time. If you're already working full time then that might be difficult, but try and find time to go to events and network? A lot of museums are holding conferences which attract other professionals and sometimes allow you to interact closely with the people working at that museum.

Good luck in your search. I hope everything works out for you!

[Anonymous No.8350107]

>>8348672
someone at reddit's r/askhistory might know?

[Anonymous No.8350955]

>>8348591
I would be most appreciative of this. Star Wars costume general thread maybe?

[Anonymous No.8350958]

>>8348591
Make a Star Wars costume thread, yeah

[Anonymous No.8351033]

>>8348117
I'm not in mourning or anything, but I generally do just wear all black because that's just my taste. No one seems to think anything of it, as far as I'm aware.

[Anonymous No.8351098]

>>8351033
I would guess the people that thought there was something wrong with them knew they were wearing mourning/black because of the death, not just black in general.

Unless they were in a small town in the South. (I kid I kid)

[Anonymous No.8351707]

>>8350955
>>8350958
Kay done
>>8351700
Still uploading. Also realized I got some other stuff from teh same museum, sci fi and horror and fantasy I'll throw in there too