Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Affair of the Diamond Necklace - an 18th century event!

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There is an exciting opportunity to wear 18th century clothes coming up in Wellington!

Eklektus presents The Affair of the Diamond Necklace : a chance to dress up in stunning 18th century clothes…to wear breeches and panniers and acres of rustling silk skirts and really big hair…to dance and chat and be wined and dined! And I hear their may even be some dancing! Not sure if it will be period dancing or not though…

Eklektus gives links to costume rentals on their site, but you might also think about making your own.

I just made a very easy and spiffy pair of panniers, and stays (18th century corsets) are not nearly as hard as they sound! Paniers are also very easy, and a pair of trousers could be easily adapted to be breeches.

Tickets are 145, which is steep, but if you think of it as food, drink, and a full night's entertainment, isn't too bad. I should get menus from the theatre soon for those of us who are fussy eaters

If anyone is going to go and wants assistance with their costume, let me know and I will try to help if I can.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/18wa/ho_50.135.2.htm
So many parties, so little time!

Some (well lots!) of links to fantastic and helpful sites for costumes

These sites have instructions on making stays, panniers, or other items of 18th century dress:
http://www.marquise.de/en/1700/index.shtml
http://www.marariley.net/stays/staysinstructions.htm
http://www.jennylafleur.com/study/petticoat.htm
http://koshka-the-cat.com/18c_petticoat.html

Here are links to museum collection's of 18th century clothes and accessories for inspiration:
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/formats/accessoires/index.jsp?lang=en
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/eudr/hd_eudr.htm
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/18sil/hd_18sil.htm
http://www.kci.or.jp/archives/da_popup/index_e.html
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/indexplus/result.html

And finally, here are costumers who have dress diaries that may be helpful
http://www.demodecouture.com/
http://www.songsmyth.com/1780-gown-n-petti/1780plan.html
http://www.jennylafleur.com/index.htm
http://www.koshka-the-cat.com/index.html
http://www.wearing-history.com/
http://www.historicallydressed.com/costumes/18c.html

Have fun...get inspired...buy a ticket...come!

Friday, July 17, 2009

A Visit to Brideshead - New Date!

The 'A Visit to Brideshead' event will now take place on Saturday August 1st.  See you at TheNewDowse at 1pm!

Monday, July 6, 2009

A visit to Brideshead: what to wear?

The plot of Brideshead Revisited is mainly centred around the period from 1923-late 1920s, with the final episode taking place in 1943 or 1944. The novel is a classic which is well worth reading, but if you are particularly short on time Wikipedia does a nice summary of the plot and themes. and there is always the classic BBC adaption and the recent film version to watch for inspiration.

Any attire from between 1923-1944 would be perfectly appropriate, though the tweedy, conservative, upper class between the wars look fits the theme much better than the flashier 'Roaring 20s' look.

There is lots of scope for imagination within the upper class look, whether you are a historically accurate fanatic or just want to go for 'effect'.

For the ladies: think dropped waists, below the knee wool skirts, thick wool tights (it is winter after all!) and the indispensible cloches, though knitted caps and broad brimmed hats were also fashionable at periods in the 1920s and 1930s.

Some inspiration:

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For the gentleman, the film adaptions feature lots of three piece woolen suits and knitted cardigans. You could also go with the final chapters of the story and wear a WWII Army uniform (and who knows, there may have been a few Kiwi soldiers stationed at Brideshead!).

Some inspiration:
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In additon the Art Deco Society does a great rundown on how to be a Gatsby man

And finally, for both ladies and gentleman Te Papa's collections online has hundred's of Leslie Adkins photographs of the 1920s, with fantastic casual images of his family.