A black lace mantelet is a foolish and fragile thing, one of the most pointless accessories in the history of western fashion. Of course I wanted to make one!
When you’ve got an arms-length-long list of projects that all have deadlines, the only thing to do is start another project quick. So here’s a tutorial for a raspberry regency reticule!
For a little touch of the funébre for this Halloween season, I made myself a sombre woman’s regency riding hat. In early October I scored a “Halloween bowler hat” at a local party store. It was on “pre-season pre-clearance sale” (Do they just make these things up now?!) and I […]
One long piece of white lace trim with a moth-nibbled middle makes… two short pieces of white lace trim! Here’s a tutorial for a pair of 1790s chemisettes – one with ruffles down the front and one without, suitable for any early regency sartorial vibe!
A sewing friend gifted me a pair of sheer voile curtains to see what I could make with them. One became a ruffled 1780s apron and the other became a white muslin summer mantelet!
In this tutorial, I turn a glass-and-brass necklace into a DIY Georgian parure.
One of my favorite 18th Century costume references is this portrait of Olive Craster by Sir Nathanial Dance-Tolland. I love the puffy blue stomacher bows. I love the enormous pearls worn high on her neck. I love her pet squirrel. But mostly I love the lace mantelet that she is wearing over the top of all of it! When I found this embroidered silk fabric I reckoned it was MEANT. Let’s see if i can make the blonde silk gauze mantelet from the portrait!
Remember when I made a rhinestone 18th Century Stomacher Brooch? Here is a tutorial for making a pair of 18th Century Girandole Earrings to match!
In the collection of the Victoria & Albert museum in London, there is a stunning antique Portuguese brooch. Thanks to an aliexpress seller who likes the piece as much as I do, today we’re going to make our very own 18th Century Stomacher Brooch!
I made an Alphonse Mucha Inspired Summer Wreath for a turn-of-the-century-poster event this summer. For a quick hot-glue job, this is shaping up to be one of my prettiest costume pieces! (There’s probably an important life lesson in there somewhere.)
