Corset Toile

Hello!

I've been busy making the corset toile recently. I didn't plan to make this first, however I love making corsets so found it hard to resist!

The pattern is a standard Elizabethan/Jacobean corset, taken from Jean Hunnisett's book, Period Costume for Stage and Screen; Patterns for Women's Dress, 1500-1800. All of Jean Hunnisett's period pattern books are a fantastic resource for making costumes.

Drafting up the pattern on to paper. I just use basic lining roll paper to draft patters. A fellow costume student gave me this tip, which is great as the paper is a nice weight and its much cheaper than proper dressmakers paper! 

After drafting up the pattern and cutting it out, it was time to cut out the pieces for the toile. The toile is basically just a practice version of whatever you're making, so you can get a more accurate sizing of your garment, before cutting out the pieces for your 'proper' version. This toile is just made from some lining curtain fabric I had from a previous project.

After making up the toile I fitted it on the mannequin. The rule with corsets is that they have to fit really well, so this takes a lot of fitting, pinning, altering, fitting, pinning, altering, fitting, pinning, altering.....

Eventually it was finished! I know it looks quite messy and very un-finished, but don't worry, most of it is just notes and markers for when I cut the pieces out for the actual corset. My one slight worry with this corset is how it will sit on the mannequin. I have only previously made corset for humans, who have a lot more adaptable bodies than mannequins! We'll see how it goes.....

(Can I also just add this process was done whilst eating way too many Rhubarb & Custard Pips!) 

Next Step....fabric buying....

Gallery of Costume

Taking a break from sewing I visited the Gallery of Costume in Platt Field park along Oxford Road, just south of Manchester city center. This is a fantastic museum for costume and fashion, and having been countless times regarding various projects I'm always so grateful its on my doorstep. And its free entry!

Having known the museums collection pretty well I tend to just head towards the pieces I want to see for research purposes. In today's case I wanted to see their corsets and obviously pieces they have from the 17th century. Although their corsets are from the 18th cenury (see above) they are still a nice example of period underwear. I was particularly interested in their busks as I will be incorporating one into the corset I'm making. These are the wood panels (see picture two) that would be inserted into the center front of the corset.

Upon entering the room containing the majority of the 17th Century collection, the first piece to catch my eye was a girls jacket/bodice dated from 1610-25 (above). New to the collection, this is a linen garment is heavily embroidered with coloured silks, gold metal thread and sequins. Obviously the embroidery style is simillar to Vere's bodice, but it was also nice to see the lace/sequin detail at the bottom of this jacket which also seams to be present on the armseye of Vere's bodice (see below)

This woman's coif from 1600-10 (below), also use very similar embroidery motifs as Vere's bodice. I will defiantly be revisiting these when I come to start the embroidery.  

Another nice piece was a woman's bodice from 1630-40 (below). Here is a part of the description given next to it at the museum, Shown from the back, this bodice of white linen is embroidered over the whole ground in silver thread chain-stitch and metal spangles in a formal scrolling design.

Apologies for some of the poor quality photos!

The Painting.

Just got back from my first viewing of the portrait at the house. She's lovely! 

I've always been amazed by how much detail there is on the portrait, and on the costume in particular, but having seen it today I was taken aback by how much work there is in it. It definitely won't be a problem trying to work out the embroidery pattern on the bodice, it looks as though Robert Peake has painted every stitch!

You can definitely see how the paining has improved from its restoration. The one thing that struck me is how much lighter the bodice is. From the original painting I had an image of gold coloured fabric, however going from what I have seen today it seems to be lighter than that, more of a dark cream.

It was also pointed out to me where the restoration team believe the painting was altered after its completion. They believe the shape of the bodice was changed, by making it shorter, to keep up with the fashions. Understandably, it would be frustrating to pay to have your portrait done, only to have what you are wearing quickly go out of favour! They can see the alterations from the way the there is less detail in top of the skirt, around her right arm/waist area. Why would Peake spend so much time putting detail into the whole painting but not this area? It is a much more feasible explanation that the painting was later altered by somebody else. I'm not sure if you will be able to tell from the pictures I have taken today, but it is much more clear when you see the painting for yourself.

I also received the mannequin the costume will be made for today so, after taking some measurements, I am ready to get started!

 

Designing.

After a lot of thought about how to create this exhibition I have finally come to a conclusion. The costume will be quite abstract and consist of layers, the underwear, shift, farthingale and corset followed by the skirt bodice and ruff. The bodice and skirt will be open to reveal the layers underneath, meaning that visitors will be able to see exactly how much was worn on the body during this period and gain a better understanding of what it must have been like.

Fabric sampling.

Finding a Date...

Before I could start any research into into the costume, I needed to pin point a date that the portrait was painted. I had been told the painting was early 17th century, however fashion changed fast and dramatically during this time so it was important to acquire a much more specific date to make sure I was on the right track.
My first point of call was to look at a portrait of Margaret Layton which I was told had a very similar costume to the Dunham portrait.

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O69443/painting-margaret-layton-formerly-laton/


There are definite similarities between the costumes;

• Similar jacket, embroidery, colour.
• Similar skirt, where it sits on the waist.
• Similar shaped ruff (pointing down) & cuffs.  

This portrait was painted in 1620, giving me my first clue to when my portrait was painted. Next I looked into ruff fashions to see if I could acquire any more accuracy from that. The fashion for ruffs died out 1625 which told me the portrait could be no older than that. However after reading over the information obtained it was apparent that, Robert Peake, died in 1619, so obviously the portrait could be no older than that!

I then looked into embroidery fashions and found an interesting piece on Jacobean embroidery on http://thefashionhistorian.blogspot.com/search/label/17th%20century

The Jacobean Period refers to the reign of King James I (of England)/VI (of Scotland). James became king of Scotland in 1567 after the execution of his mother, Mary Queen of Scots. He became king of England in 1603, after the death of Queen Elizabeth I. This was a transitional period, where the late Elizabethan styles were still mostly in play. One of the defining features of the period is extensive use of heavy embroidery picturing natural motifs, with colorful flowers and animals swirling around on the fabric.

This description of Jacobean embroidery is exactly what the embroidery of the jacket in the portrait depicts, telling me that the portrait would have been painted during the reign of King James I, narrowing down my search for a date to some time between 1603-1619.

The final clue was that it is believed the portrait was painted as Vere Egerton's engagement portrait, before she married into the Booth family of Dunham in 1619. So my final guess would be that the portrait was painted between 1615 & 1618.

Start at the Begining.

I have been asked to put together a costume exhibition for Dunham Massey. In the summer the National Trust, alongside the Art fund, bought a portrait of Vere Egerton at Sotheby's. This portrait used to belong to the house at Dunham Massey and after undertaking restoration work, it is back! To commemorate its return I have been asked to put together a costume exhibition that will sit along side the portrait. Within this exhibition I will be trying to recreate as much of the costume as possible so visitors to the house will be able to get a real hands on experience and be able to see for themselves all the detail that went into dress of that period.

Here goes...

More information on the portrait can be found here;
http://nttreasurehunt.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/portrait-of-a-lady-returns-to-dunham/

 More information on Dunham Massey and the National Trust can be found here;

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-dunhammassey.htm