Period Wedding Dresses - Corset Fittings

When fitting a corset I always sew the side seams on the outside so they are easier to grab if it needs to be altered and I sew fake eyelets on the back incase the back needs to be altered.

Both corsets are boned with synthetic whalebone, corsets of these periods were boned with whalebone but it is no longer available.

This is a toile (mock-up) of the corset that will be worn under the 1810s dress, it is based on period accurate patterns taken from corset books, and adapted to fit my model Ellie. This had to be taken in slightly at the bust.

Corsets of this period were designed to pull in the waist and hips and raise and support the bust.

This is the corset that will be worn under the 16th Century dress, it is based on patterns from Janet Arnold Patterns of Fashion and adapted to fit my model Loraine. I didn't have to alter this much, just let it out a bit at the waist.

This corset has a very different effect to the 1810s style one, corsets from this peiod were designed to flatten the bust to enthasise the cleavage and flatten the belly, they stop at the waist as there was usually a farthingale and volumous skirt worn with it.

Period Wedding Dresses

The project I am currently working on is period wedding dresses. There's an exhibition of wedding dresses in Huddersfield that I'm making wedding dresses for. The exhibition is to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee, so my project has a royal theme. I looked at royal wedding dresses from paintings and photos and I chose to make the wedding dress worn by Princess Charlotte and the one worn by Maria de Medici.

The dress worn by Maria has a beautiful detailed cut and will challenge me to make. The one worn by Charlotte is very detailed with textiles which will be interesting to make.

I am currently pattern cutting but I will be making a shift, corset, fathingale, petticoat, bodice, skirt and a ruff for Maria and I will be making a shift, corset, dress and manteau for Charlotte.

Wedding of Maria de Medici and Henry IV of France by Jacopo Chimenti, 1600, Uffizi Gallery.

Princess Charlotte returning from her marriage to Prince Leopold in 1816

The Age of Innocence

For my Final Individual Project at the end of my second year I made a dress for the character May in the film 'The Age of Innocence' working from  the original design. The film is set in New York in the 1870s.

I'll show you the costume underwear first.



The corset I made is based on 1870s corset patterns, made from two layers of cotton and spiral wire boning and it has lace sewn down the front.



I made a bustle to give the skirt it's shape, it's made of cotton drill and steel boning.

The bustle had to be covered by a petticoat to make the shape smoother, add more volume and to protect the skirt. It's made of cotton drill like the bustle.

The design had embroidery down the front of the bodice....these are working pictures. I embroidered the first panel freehand then mirrored it on the other panel.

The bodice is made of cotton velvet and chinese silk backed with cotton, the skirt is made of chinese silk with ribbon sewn  to the pleated fabric around the bottom.

 The ruffles were sewn to a cotton base to keep them where they are.

My model Fran hard at work while the lights for the photoshoot were cooling down.

Pantomime Dame

For a project in second year I had to design and make a pantomime dame costume with Katherine Barry, a fellow costume student. We designed Widow Miller's costume from Puss in Boots.

She's going to the ball get it?!

We had to make body padding to make our male model look like a woman. we did this with wadding and bird seed (to give it weight). We padded a bra and made a big bum by attaching lots of wadding to some big knickers and covering it all in flesh coloured fabric.

For the hood we had to make a football shape out of octagonal and pentagon shapes of foam and glue them together, then I covered it in PVC to make it look like a football.

Final Costume...69 is Widow Miller's lucky number!

A Midsummer Night's Dream

This was the last project of my first year, the class designed costumes for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in the style of Steampunk. We all designed one character's costume and one fairy then we made other peoples character designs and our own fairy design.

The costume I made was for the character Hermia, designed by Lucy Duncan.

I'm quite proud of this costume because this is the first corset I made and it was made of leather! As you can see it has lace up detail on the front (which isn't functional by the way, the real lace up is on the back) and buckles on the sides.



This is the fairy costume that I designed and made. I tried to incorporate some Elizabethan features (because Midsummer's is a Shakespeare play) as well as Steampunk details.

I didn't have time to make a real tutu but I think the costume looks pretty good, considering I'm not the best at designing anyway.



I designed the corset bright green because I thought it looked punk. The corset had textiles on the front with cogs (made of felt) and studs  to make it look more Steampunk.

Robert Dudley

This was a project from my first year in university called 'Kings and Queens'. The costume I made was Robert Dudley 'Leister',  Queen Elizabeth's lover. For this I made a doublet with a peascod belly and waist tabs, slops, a hat and a ruff. The costume was only made of calico so that the focus was on the cut and construction of the garments.

This is a painting of Robert Dudley, I used this as a reference when making the costume.

On the 27th October 2009 they went on display at the Wales Millennium Centre, they were worn by the models who strolled around the entrance, interacting with the people going to the theatre. They were painted white to make them look ghostly.

Outside the Wales Millennium Centre