FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Celia’s Day Off
(click images to to enlarge)
Other Credits
Photographed by Hamish Devereux-Batchelor
Outline the story …
"The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern is my favourite book and while the main character Celia wears many fabulous gowns throughout the novel both at glamorous parties and when performing on stage, I wanted to explore what Celia might wear on her days off. The novel spans the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras and as I imagined this as a 'day off' outfit in 1901. I thought it understandable that some of the clothes would be older in their style (I mean, who wears the latest fashions when they're on a down day and have no one to impress?). I used a range of images of extent garments from 1899-1902 for my inspiration and decided to challenge myself to create not only the outer garments, but as many under garments as I had time for. In total I made six items: bloomers, a corset cover, a petticoat, a bustle pad, a walking skirt and a shirtwaist/blouse.
Outline the construction…
The entire outfit, including the undergarments are made from recycled or up-cycled fabric. The bloomers, corset cover and walking skirt are constructed from curtains, while the petticoat and shirtwaist were made from bedsheets. I acquired three end-roll pieces of cotton bobbin lace that I used to trim and embellish the corset cover and the shirtwaist. The bustle pad was constructed from off-cut cotton wadding/batting and stuffed with finely cut fabric cabbage. I used a mixture of hand sewing, machine sewing and overlocking to create the six garments. I used historical patterns for the petticoat (via TudorLinks), walking skirt (The Keystone Jacket and Dress Cutter) and bustle pad (H.H. Taylor 1903 patent), and I draped and/or drafted the shirtwaist, bloomers and corset cover myself. I had many challenges during construction of the shirtwaist in particular, struggling to join pieces of lace to each other but I experimented with techniques and used thin strips of interfacing to stabilise the lace's edges. Also on the shirtwaist I used cotton twill tape sewn onto one edge of my seams to neatly finish them by turning the twill tape over the raw edge and hand felling them down. I found the Keystone Guide, Bernadette Banner's videos on specific items (walking skirt and bustle pad), and a 1949 dress guide "Clothing for Moderns" to be useful resources that helped me with pattern creation and trouble shooting.
I love the shirtwaist – the lace detail is beautiful. It’s a wonderful costume and I’m full of admiration for all the under garments you made.
I LOVE this entry- the textures, the silhouette and the colours! I adore!
Yay I’m so glad to see a night circus entry! I just finished the book. I love your choice of “day off attire” beautiful.
everything goes so well with everything !! I love the puffy blouse and the striped skirt ^-^
Besides it really suits you 😀
This silhouette looks so good on you! Great job❤
I love that blouse!! I would wear it everyday! Amazing job!
It was a bit of a mission, but I’m really happy with how it turned out! 🙂
Such nice details and I love the silhouette!
This is really very nice. I love it, nicely done! Thank you!
I love your Celia! Your videos documenting the process were also fantastic!
Thank you so much! 🙂
Thank you to everyone for your kind comments! I really appreciate them!