Ladies early period costumes

I started looking at Roman statues and thought that the outfits looked both simple and elegant. I also really liked the hairdressing and thought that maybe some day in the future I might like to try that with my own hair. It was also the beginning of the camping season and the height of summer and I could forsee myself cooking in the humid Ontario summer sun and this seemed like a good solution to that problem.

I picked up about 3m of 45" silk noil which was on sale for an absolute steal. Two seams and a trip around the hem with a serger and I had a finished piece of garb. Gotta love the simplicity of this piece. I also strangely enough receive compliments on it every time I wear it. My best friend says it is because the fabric drapes so beautifully, I always worry that it is because something or somethingS are peeking out and I'm just not noticing.

Please note that this is just the underdress. A proper Roman Lady has more layers than this. I currently wear this outfit with a Palla but I don't have any pictures of me in it.

My next attempt is from a HUGE length of fabric I managed to obtain very cheaply from Wal-Mart. A burn test showed it to be a natural fiber of some sort. likely cotton or Rayon or some combination of the two. The intention was to create two dresses from two slightly different patterns and determine which pattern I liked best. I got this one made but have not been inspired to come back for the second attempt.

The pattern differs from the previous patterns in that I made it by using only measurements of myself, not of finished garments. I used Kass and Cynthia's websites to figure out what to do with those measurements.

I used under-arm gussets to make enough room for my upper arms. I am pleased by the dress overall but I am not so terribly keen on how the underarms sit. Whether it is the fault of the gussets or the fault of the fabric I will not know until I try a second pattern without gussets. I am starting to look at this fabric for something else so it may not happen.

This dress still needs trim. It is made but not yet applied. Some day in the future, maybe on a long car ride. I like to hand-sew all my trim so it is something I like to save for boring times when I can't get to my sewing machine.

Spring 2005

I've joined a new household. They're all Vikings and they make fun of me when I dress Tudor. They accept some of my earlier attempts at early period. But I bought these brooches two years ago from Fettered Cock so I figured it's time to get off my butt and make that apron dress so I can wear them. I also picked up a lovely set of hand made beads (by Inga the Unfettered) at an auction this past fall, and I was just itching to display them.

This dress is the result of that experiment.