Back to school!

It's September first, you know what that means: it's back to school! Now, I graduated high school 10 years ago (yikes, it makes me old!) but from the WalMart flyer, I seem to gather that uniforms are becoming more and more popular. That's how it used to be in old times and that is how it is in other countries, so why not here too!

"What does that have to do with costumes?" you might wonder (don't you know by now I always find a way to link things together?). Let us go back in time, to as far back as the 1920's, and talk about the Gymslip, also known as a pinafore or jumper dress. That is what our grandmother's wore to school (my grandmother used to bring back the cafeteria food she disliked in her dress pockets, but that's a whole other story).

Girls wearing Gymslips

For years, I've been amassing data on this type of dress in order to eventually reproduce it. "Why would she want to do that for?" I hear you think. Simple. I'm a Costumeholic, AND I'm a fan of the TV show The Worst Witch.

Kate Duchêne as Miss Hardbroom, Emma Brown as Maud Moonshine, Georgina Sherrington as Mildred Hubble and Joanna Dyce as Ruby Cherrytree; The Worst Witch (1998)

Emma Brown as Maud Moonshine and Georgina Sherrington as Mildred Hubble, The Worst Witch (1998)

So obviously, I want to make a Cackle's Academy uniform, which includes a black gymslip, a light grey shirt, a black and grey tie, black Inverness cape and black witch's hat. I've even redrawn the school's coat of arms to eventually embroider as a patch!

Cackle's Academy Coat of Arms

So far as my research goes, imagine how thrilled I was to see a gymslip dress up close at my favorite museum last year!

School uniform (front), Manhattan Childrenswear, About 1960, 20th century, 79 cm, Gift of Mrs. Douglas T. Bourke, M988.68.1.1-2© McCord Museum

School uniform (back), Manhattan Childrenswear, About 1960, 20th century, 79 cm, Gift of Mrs. Douglas T. Bourke, M988.68.1.1-2© McCord Museum

More recently, a pinafore dress was seen in a Box Office movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008).

The Pevensies: Edmund, Peter, Susan and Lucy; The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

That's right folks, Lucy's school dress is a pinafore!

So, plenty of reasons to like your grandmother's school uniform. Why not try to convince your school to pick it up instead of the plaid skirts? (Too much? Yeah, I do get carried away.)

Wednesday Weekly Wishlist: Victorian Bathing Suit

We are finally getting some warm, rain-free days around here. We're talking, sunny, hot, 30°C days, according to Meteomedia (I have no idea of the equivalent in °F, I only use that type of temperature measurement for my oven). Honestly, it's the third day in a row that I'm wearing shorts. Crazy, eh?

This introduces one of the numerous items on my Wishlist, in this case, a Victorian Bathing Suit. How does a long, woolen dark swimming ensemble fit with the hot days I've mentioned, you might wonder? Why, swimming, of course! (Duh! That simple.) You see, I have a dream: it doesn't come close to World Peace, but in this dream, a group of costumers show up at the beach in their Victorian bathing suits and freak all the other bathers out of their Speedos and bikinis*.

1870's Fashion Plate

Ever since I first saw Trystan's Vampire's Day at the Beach bathing suit, I've wanted to make myself one. After all, what better way to hide a body shape you dislike than wearing many layers of fabric? (Works better than spandex for that purpose.) It's also great to protect one's fair skin from the sun.

A Vampire's Day at the Beach, Trystan's Closet

So lately, I've been looking for some reference pictures in order to make myself just such a bathing suit and I found the following antique at Vintage Textile:

Two-piece wool bathing costume, c.1895-1900

There are many, many detailed pictures of this bathing suit on that page, so I suggest you visit it if you're interested in making such a project.

I also found one in the McCord Museum Images Collection:

Bathing suit, 1890-1900, 19th century, Gift of Mrs. Mary L. Duclos, © McCord Museum

I think it will be fairly easy to figure out a pattern for this type of bathing suit (really, it's just a one-piece suit with a detachable skirt), but if like I often do, you feel too lazy to draw your own pattern, you can always use Folkwear Pattern, #253 Vintage Bathing Costume.

Now I don't know yet if I would make mine in wool or in cotton, but I think I'd go for the Navy with white trim look. Maybe I'd add just a little red in the trim for a splash of colour. Although, I have seen some very colourful recreations that looked awesome...

So what do you all say, shall we set a date for a beach picnic next summer to see my dream* come true?

Costuming Research Resources: McCord Museum

Before creating or reproducing a costume, one must always do a little research. It doesn't matter if you want an absolutely perfect recreation or just a loosely inspired creation, you will want to look at some reference pictures to get an idea of what you want to make before you rush off to the store to buy fabric or accessories. Sometimes, researching for fun will also enable you to spot things in stores, such as jewelry or shoes, which you would not have noticed otherwise and would then be looking for like crazy when the time came for you to make the costume of your dreams!

For 19th and 20th century costumes, one of my favorite resources is the McCord Museum. Their focus is always the History of Montréal, which they present through their extensive collection of artifacts, from clothing to paintings to furniture and more. I've been there a couple of times and every time, they have different pieces on display.

But this Museum is more than exhibitions: they also have a number of free on-line tools, such as interactive and educational resources, their own YouTube account with many videos on a variety of subjects, and the absolute best, their collection of 135 000 images (including the entire Notman Photographic Archives). You've already seen the Victorian Tartan Taffeta Ball Gown, shown last Saturday. Now imagine being able to look at each piece of clothing, shoes and accessories that their collection holds from the comfort of your own home!

As a sneak peek of all they have to offer a costumer, I invite you to view this video called "Form and Fashion":

At my last visit, I was told by my lovely guide that the Museum will sometimes grant access to their vault if one presents a project/demand deemed interesting enough by the Museum. That made me dream! Imagine the understanding of these historical dresses' construction I could gain if I could look at the pieces closely! One day, maybe...

(To the Museum's Human Resources - If ever you are hiring, I know my BA is in Film Study and not Museum Science, but I doubt you will find someone who knows as much about costumes, is as eager to learn, and will respect the numerous artifacts of your collection as much as me. And a bonus - I can dress-up in my own reproductions of different costume for the joy and entertainment of visitors. Oh yeah, and I'm bilingual!)

A Costumer's Shopping Therapy

Where does a costumer shop, you might wonder? (Well, if you are one, you might not.) The Fabric store! For my birthday, my best friend Nancy-Raven gave me a Fabricland gift voucher and today she helped me spend it. Now I could have bought fabric to make a nice skirt or a shirt, but where's the fun in that? You can find these boring everyday items at any store. Costumes, you can only make yourself! (Or get a very talented seamstress to make them for you for a hefty price, but as I AM a very talented seamstress and I'm cheap...) And so I now have fabric for two new projects (not like I didn't already have fabric in my 16-rubbermaid-bins-fabric-stash - known henceforth as "The Stash" - but I didn't have the fabric needed for these two specific projects. Nuance!)

Project 1: Medieval Heraldic Tabard (with my SCA registered Device)

In the SCA, I am know as Mórag filia Scayth, and though I'm not a Lady yet (still waiting patiently for my AoA *hint*), I already have a device which was registered at Pennsic 36. I've been thinking of making myself a heraldic tabard for awhile now and the cotton twill was on sale, so following this sign from the Gods *ahem*, I got all the fabric I need and I hope to make it soon, possibly to wear at the next event I go to (hopefully that will be Fête des Bois in Canton du Boisé Ardent on September 5th, especially since the King and Queen will be there *hint*).

Also, I made myself a dress years ago, inspired by Michaela de Bruce's 14th century cote (which is now nowhere to be found on her website) which is basically a white princess line dress with round neckline and 3/4 sleeves that are split on the inside up to the elbow, with the neckline and sleeve cuffs decorated with lace flowers (pink on Michaela's, yellow on mine). The sad thing is, I have nothing to wear it with! So now I will! (If you still wonder what that dress might look like, I suggest you check out Nancy-Raven's version of what we both call "The Glittersweet Cote".)

Project 2: Tartan Taffeta Victorian Ballgown

In my History of Costume class (Fall 2008), my teacher was presenting Victorian fashion when she showed the following picture:

I fell in love! I knew I wanted one. As soon as I got home, I got on the computer to look through the McCord Museum images collection, found it and saved it for futur references (By the way, it is an 1860 dress worn by Mrs. Ogilvie at a ball given in honour of the Prince of Wales.) Add to that my childhood memories of the Grands Ballets Canadiens' The Nutcracker where half of the girls are wearing tartan taffeta dresses and you will understand why when I found some tartan taffeta at 9.99$/metre with a "Buy 1 metre get 2 metres free" sign, I just couldn't resist! I bought 6 metres and the assistant manager (who knows me by now) that was cutting my fabric sold me the last metre of the roll as a fabric coupon for 1.80$. I am now the happy owner of almost 7 metres of red, black and royal blue tartan taffeta! Guess what I'm making myself for Yule?