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Short Hair and Historical Costuming
1930's, Historical Fashion, Regency, WWI

Short Hair and Historical Costuming

Avoiding the hair issue altogether at the 2018 Jane Austen Evening by wearing a turban.

I have short hair. I’ve always had more-or-less short hair – the longest I’ve ever been able to grow it was just past my shoulders. I used to try to keep it as long as I could for playing vintage dress-up, but on a daily basis it wasn’t cute. My hair is fine, and thin, and really just wants to be short. (On the plus side, it takes a heat curl really well, so I can work some magic with a curling iron.)

The thing is, until recently I also had a wig/fake hair phobia. Things like fake hair and fake nails just really grossed me out and I wanted nothing to do with them. Which is a challenge when you want to participate in historical costuming, because not only does fake hair make it easier when you don’t have much of your own, but it’s also much easier to plop a pre-styled wig on your head than spend hours leading up to an event trying to do an elaborate, archaic hairdo on yourself.

I think (hope!) that I’ve gotten over my fear of fake hair, but I’ve also been having fun this past year experimenting with short historical hairstyles. I plan to do full outfit posts about all these costumes in the near future, but I thought it would be fun to look at just the hairstyles together. Apologies for the poor quality of many of the images – I don’t usually think my hair is anything special so I usually skip close-ups, so most of these photos are cropped down from full length images.

For Friday night at Costume College, I dressed in a French Empire style called a la victime, which was fashioned after the chopped-off hair that the aristocracy had to endure before going under the guillotine. The image on the left was my inspiration (I can’t find the original image source – if you can direct me to it, please let me know!). The center image is the excellent trial that my hairdresser did for me (the great/terrible thing about short hair is that you get to visit your hairdresser often, and mine has been helping me with some of these unusual styles). On the right is my final version from Costume College, which is probably too coiffed and attractive, and I realize that my hair is technically too LONG for this style! I don’t get to say that often.

This set of images is from a couple different nights at Camp Hollywood. Left and center are from “Cabaret Night”, so in a nod to Weimar Berlin I wore a man’s suit and fingerwaved my hair. The photo on the right is from the very next night, when my husband and I participated in a swing dance tribute performance for the 90th anniversary of the Venice Beach Clip. No way am I ever gonna have hair as long and thick as Genevieve Grazis, and no way am I ready for dancing with fake hair, but I can still do some good curl fluff and wear a big bow for the right effect. As a non-hair-person who has had to become somewhat adept with her hair, it blows my mind to look at this set of photos and see that the exact same haircut can produce such different looks.

Irene and Vernon Castle image source from The Whirl of Life (1915).

This final short hair look was what I wore to the Great War Gallop. This style was loosely inspired by Irene Castle, who led the bob trend by chopping off her hair in all the way back in 1914! Again, for this style, I just used a curling iron all over and sculpted my “curl fluff” into an appropriate shape/silhouette for the period.

Do you have short hair? How do you handle it when playing historical dress-up? Are there other short hair icons I should attempt to emulate?

Past Patterns #9384: Ladies’ Three or Four-Piece Skirt: Circa 1917
Historical Fashion, pattern, Sewing, WWI

Past Patterns #9384: Ladies’ Three or Four-Piece Skirt: Circa 1917

We’re finally at the end of this Teens costume series! Today we’re going to look at the Past Patterns #9384 Ladies’ Three or Four-Piece Skirt.

With this skirt pattern, we’re back into the category of “only for the brave”. Like the Past Patterns’ Princess Slip pattern, this skirt pattern is a single-size repro with copies of only the original sparse instructions and pattern markings. I found an ad for this pattern in the October 1916 issue of the Ladies’ Home Journal, but unfortunately there were no fun fashion illustrations of it to share.

As a reminder, Christina (in the pink) and I used this same skirt pattern in our outfits for the Great War Gallop. And in looking through my old photo files, I found pics of the version Lauren made AGES ago! (Circa 2011?) Christina and Lauren both made version A, and I made version B.

Front page of instructions
Back page of instructions

Since I made view B, I used pieces 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7. I should have also used piece 4, but I got so wrapped up in trying to figure out how the belt worked that I forgot it also had a waistband, so I wound up doing an overcomplicated internal waist facing instead. Oops!

  • Skirt Side
  • Skirt Back
  • Skirt Front
Waistband hook, snaps, and buttons for closures. The snaps are not mentioned in the instructions ANYWHERE, so it took me a while to figure out how this placket closure should work.
Waistband interior construction. I attached some heavy-duty waistband interfacing to the brown petersham facing, which provides a really excellent level of support. I also added stay-tape to the sideseams for additional support. An original would probably use a skinny twill tape for support on the sideseams, but this modern stuff is what I had in my stash.
Pocket Detail. I cut 4 of the pocket pieces to make a double-sided pocket, so that the face of the fabric is visible on both sides when the flap is folded down. I did mine as a patch pocket and the flap is not actually functional.
Skirt in Progress. I’m not normally so diligent about things like thread marking, but this time I was very glad I did it. It made the snap and button placement MUCH easier to do accurately. I wasn’t completely pleased with the shape of the skirt at this point – it was too long and not full enough at the hem, even with a petticoat under it.
  • Sleeve wigan as hem interfacing
  • This was a BEAST of a hem to sew, but I’m pleased with the final look!

In order to remedy the soft hem, I found some sleeve wigan in my stash and added it to the skirt hem. I was worried it might be too stiff, but since it is on the bias I think it gives just the right amount of support!

Folkwear Armistice Blouse
Historical Fashion, pattern, Sewing, WWI

Folkwear Armistice Blouse

  • Christina, Charlton, and Beth at The Great War Gallop

We’re finally done with undies and can finally look at the real clothes from my Teens costume! About half the women at the Great War Gallop used the Folkwear Armistice Blouse pattern, which was both amusing and also interesting to see how they all came out. Christina and I (in the pic above) were complete pattern twins, and used the same blouse AND skirt pattern! She made the skirt with the overlay drape, and I did the version with patch pockets. 

I actually made this blouse last summer for Costume College to wear as part of an “adventurer” outfit, but I didn’t finish my jodhpurs in time, so the blouse has gone unworn until now. My recollection of making it is a bit hazy, but I remember it going together fairly easily, and the pattern has modern step-by-step instructions. Now that I’ve spent more time researching the Teens, I believe this pattern is a modern interpretation of the period style and neither the fit nor the construction are 100% accurate, but it is very close and is accessible to a modern sewer. If you can make a modern blouse, you can make this.

As with most everything I make, there are still a few finishing details that are still unfinished! Because it’s worn tucked in, I never hemmed the bottom edge, and the back gathering is secured with a safety pin instead of the cute little belt that it’s supposed to have. I will probably eventually add the belt but never hem it.

I do wish the center panel were a little higher – it looks okay in these photos, but my chemise & slip are constantly threatening to peek out the top. And I don’t love the wide neck (which is exacerbated by my using too-heavy interfacing), but seeing that most everyone’s versions have a wide neck made me feel better about mine. But overall I’m pleased with it. I’ve wanted to make this blouse for many years!!

Past Patterns 1912-1916 Princess Slip
1912, Edwardian, Historical Fashion, Sewing, WWI

Past Patterns 1912-1916 Princess Slip

Now we’re getting into the territory of “only for the brave”. This slip pattern is a single-size, straight-up repro of a Ladies Home Journal pattern, reproduced by Past Patterns (Pattern #9206: Ladies’ and Misses’ Dart-Fitted Princess Slip: Circa 1912-1916). The instructions are a single sheet of paper with the front and back of the pattern envelope photocopied on it. Honestly, the only reason I chose to do a princess slip instead of a separate corset cover/petticoat was because I wanted to cut down on the number of garments I had to make in a short period of time, but using an original pattern is not a path I recommend for new sewers. The actual sewing wasn’t hard, but deciphering the pattern did take some work.

Below you can see the total extent of the instructions. Don’t be fooled by the chunks of text that say “HELPS” and “FOLLOW THESE EASY DIRECTIONS”! Most of that text is generic and not specific to this pattern, so nearly all of the instructions are what you see here in the illustrations. I decided that the button opening is supposed to be on the back for all views, and I’m still not sure if you’re supposed to use only the circular flounce or the gathered flounce (but I cut all the pieces before I started questioning that, so I ended up using ALL THE FLOUNCES for extra floof).

  • Front Instructions
  • Back Instructions

The pattern states that it’s for size 34″ bust, 24″ waist, 37″ hips, but  frequently these old patterns have quite a bit of ease. I’m 2″-4″ bigger than those measurements throughout, and I still ended up pinching out more from the darts.

I used the same fabric and neckline lace as on my combinations. Because this slip has a CB opening, I decided to stitch my drawstring “ribbon” to it, which works well for wearing but isn’t great for laundry – I can’t remove the ribbon when it goes in the washer, so it gets a bit tangled.

  • CB opening – outside
  • CB opening – inside

Unlike with my combinations, for the slip I *did* remember to cut down the armholes before finishing them. I eyeballed the armhole placement and snipped the curve to open up to that point. This is something you want to mark while it’s on a body/dressform, so you can see in 3-D where you want the armhole to be. The armhole then got the bias tape treatment to finish it off.

Finally, the flounce! These lace strips were actually the first bits of heirloom sewing I did – I wanted to practice my technique before doing any neckline lace. Again, I followed the methods outlined on the Wearing History blog, with the only modification of using strips of receipt paper as a tear-away interfacing for support.

  • Finished lace panel
  • Narrow zigzag to join strips of lace

There are 6 panels total, and I joined them together with French seams after applying the lace. Then I hemmed the bottom, gathered the top, and  zigzagged it and the circular flounce to the bottom of the petticoat. Eventually that raw top edge should get covered with some wide beading lace with a pretty ribbon, but because that part is decorative and not functional, I’m waiting to find something affordable. Lace is not cheap! This insertion lace was already sitting in my stash – another lucky find from long ago.

  • Finished gathered flounce
  • Circular flounce under the gathered flounce

Done with undies for now! Whew. Next up – blouse and skirt!

Truly Victorian 1913 Late Edwardian Corset
1912, construction, Corset, Edwardian, Historical Fashion, pattern, review, Sewing, WWI

Truly Victorian 1913 Late Edwardian Corset

If we’re going through our layers from skin out, after the combinations comes the corset. And y’all, this is THE EASIEST corset I’ve ever made.  It’s a single layer of coutil (no lining), and there are no gores or gussets, so fitting is fairly simple. I made a mock-up for peace of mind before cutting into my coutil (that stuff is expensive!), but I didn’t make any major fit changes to the mockup. If I were braver (more foolhardy?), I could have skipped it.

TVE13E – 1913 Late Edwardian Corset

As with my Wearing History combinations, I chose the e-pattern version of the Late Edwardian Corset from Truly Victorian. I resisted e-patterns for years after they started becoming popular, but I finally saw the light: INSTANT GRATIFICATION. And taping a pattern together takes about the same amount of time as tracing one off, so they don’t take more prep time for me. I’ve used a number of e-patterns from different companies at this point, and I have to commend the historical/vintage patternmakers – in my experience, the e-patterns from these companies generally go together much more easily than e-patterns from modern indie pattern companies.

I chose this particular overbust style because someday I’d like to do a proper Titanic-era outfit. The slim hip wasn’t as critical for this 1918 outfit, but it will be great under a more fitted 1912 dress. I LOVE the sleek silhouette this corset gives! Late-teens clothes aren’t extremely fitted, so if you wanted to skip the corset you could probably get away with it, but I enjoyed the effect it gives. It doesn’t cinch down much (and I’m not very squishy anyway – my corseted waist is usually about the same as uncorseted) but it REALLY changes your posture. No slouching allowed!

The instructions for this pattern have step-by-step text and a few illustrations, but I followed Jen’s 1910s corset tutorial at Festive Attyre for most of my construction. I guess my corset still is technically unfinished (no garter hooks, no lace at the top, etc) but it’s completely wearable, so honestly it’s probably as finished as it’s ever gonna be. For the Great War Gallop I wore knee-high socks from the Dollar Tree, which worked fine. Maybe someday I’ll want “proper” stockings, and then I’ll have to attach garter hooks. Maybe.

I do want to share how I handled the fitting stage. I stitched together the panels, inserted the front busk, back grommets, back (steel) bones and sandwiched my waist stay tape into the back facing seam. At this point there is only boning at the CF and CB, but you can try it on and get an idea of how it will fit and make adjustments because the seams are not yet covered with the boning casing. I ended up letting out the waist about 1/4″ on every seam to get a straight lacing gap in the back. I also made sure to sit while wearing it, so I could get an idea of where the bones needed to end in the front (the wrinkles show where my hips bend, so the boning shouldn’t extend past that point).

Inside of the partially constructed corset, ready for fitting

The waist stay, boning channels, and top and bottom binding all use 1″ twill tape, because I have a massive roll in my stash, so I use it for EVERYTHING. I used synthetic whalebone for the first time, and I found it to be very similar to the zip-ties I have used in other corsets. It’s so great to be able to easily fine-tune the length of the bones! I just use scissors and a heavy duty nail file to shape the tips.

Inside of the finished corset, nice and wrinkled from an afternoon of dancing!
Wearing History 1917 Combination Underwear and Chemise
construction, Edwardian, Sewing, WWI

Wearing History 1917 Combination Underwear and Chemise

As I mentioned in my last post, for the Great War Gallop I created all new pieces – from the underwear out – which was both harder and easier than I expected. Everything came together pretty smoothly, and the only mockup I made was for my corset (which I probably could have skipped, but coutil is too expensive to take chances with).

But as a bunch of us have discovered recently during our forays into this period, Teens-era construction is deceptively hard! Basic skirts look like they should go together in the same way that modern clothes do, but are actually more similar to earlier periods. And yeah, there are sewing patterns, but most of the instructions are pretty sparse and cryptic. We joke that instructions on old patterns consist of a single sentence – “construct in the usual way” – but in this case, that’s true. Which is fine if you wore these clothes every day of your life – you’d know what the usual way was, but I haven’t spent much time studying extant garments from this era so it was unfamiliar to me. I spent a decent amount of time throughout this project looking at old sewing manuals online (yay public domain!) and asking friends how they thought something should be assembled. I don’t know that I got it “right” every time, but nothing fell apart and I think my construction techniques are close enough to the “usual way”, so I thought I’d share in case anyone else finds themselves in the same boat. Once you figure out how the darn things are supposed to be assembled, the actual sewing is fairly simple.

For my combinations (base-layer undies) I used Wearing History’s circa 1917 Combination Underwear and Chemise e-pattern. After purchasing the pattern I realized that I have a couple original vintage combinations patterns in my stash that I could have used (oops!) but I do enjoy the ease of e-patterns. This pattern includes the original instructions (which aren’t much) and some text “translations” of what those instructions mean for modern sewers, but not step-by-step illustrations for construction. Hopefully these photos will help explain some of the tricky bits, and if you have more questions check out the in-depth post that The Dreamstress did on this pattern.

I used a lightweight cotton broadcloth and made self-bias tape to finish the armholes, bottom edge, and to finish the inside of the CB pleat. I finished the neckline with beading lace using the heirloom sewing technique described on the Wearing History blog. If you don’t want to buy pricey lace or want a very sturdy top edge, you could also finish the neckline with bias tape and use that as a casing for your drawstring.

  • Straight sideseam! After pattern alteration
  • Back – flap buttoned

I only made a couple fitting adjustments – the balance was a little off so i removed a little from the front shoulder length to get the sideseam to hang straight on me. I wish I had scooped out the neckline and armhole a bit after shortening the front armhole, but I didn’t realize how high they were until after attaching the lace. And I took some of the width out of the sideseam because I didn’t want quite as much bulk under my corset. 

Front pattern alterations – Blue indicates the changes I actually made, and the purple lines are changes I’ll include for next time!

And here are a few more construction photos. Make sure to also check out The Dreamstress’s blog to see how she constructed these parts! Her versions are a little different but I think they all qualify as “the usual way”.

  • Outside CB Pleat Construction
  • Inside CB Pleat Construction
  • Neckline