Cinderella in detail

So, my sister got a new camera, and as promised: more photos of the Regency inspired Cinderella outfit!
The short gown: I sew everything by hand, which means I need to like the feel of whatever fabric I’m working with, and I love linen, so when I accidentally dyed some white linen this light blue color (rookie mistake that I still make: forgetting to wash all my new fabric SEPARATELY) I decided it was perfect for this little gown! Worked out great since the cotton I bought for this project ended up feeling too stiff and I hated my first attempt. (Also, this was the third of fourth attempt at this deceptively simple project; getting the ratio of tiny skirt right so that it didn’t look ridiculously floofy at the back took several attempts...in several fabrics, like I mentioned.) I based my short gown on this one with the front drawstring opening, and made the skirt a little shorter. It’s still not the most flattering, but that’s not really the point of this anyway, right? Work clothes seldom are!

  I also pinned on a little Northanger Abbey book locket charm that was a Christmas gift from my brother and his wife in a nod to the shared love of books between the young girl and her father in Ever After, another favorite (historical!) Cinderella adaptation. It seemed like the kind of cute little brooch her dad might have gifted her before his death. I forgot to take off my wedding ring but left off other jewelry.
  On the back I put two white cloth covered buttons to help hold up the apron, since the Regency waist is so unnaturally high, as on this short gown.

 The brown skirt is sewn from a sturdy cotton with stiff body; I initially tried to put a whole 3yards of fabric into it but NOPE, waaaay too much when the fabric is not the usual lightweight sheer cotton that I usually sew these skirts with. So I ended up using the Sense and Sensibility Regency gown pattern from Simplicity. I imagine the skirt to come from a gown handed down to Cinderella from one of her stepsisters after she damaged, or perhaps simply tired of, her gown. Perhaps she remade it into a spencer or tore one of the sleeves on a country walk...either way, I left the pattern long (I have short legs!) and took up the excess with tucks, because of course Cinderella is more petite than her stepsisters, and I think she would have wanted to wear pretty things, even if they were old hand-me-downs. Tucks were a way to add interest to a hemline and otherwise very simple silhouette. Plus it needed to be short enough not to trip me going up the stairs with full hands!

  As a thank you to my sister for the awesome pictures, I made dinner in full regalia to add some patina. Only splattered a little tomato on myself - thank goodness for modern washing and drying and gentle soaps!

Aprons: a love letter

 Oh, the apron. So simple, and yet so...not. It’s been around for practically forever, it’s endlessly useful, and just as endlessly changeable. Not only does it protect the clothing underneath from whatever muck might threaten, it has at many points in history, much as today, served as a fashion statement and accessory. Ask ten different people to sew an apron and you’ll get ten wildly different results, from silhouette to fabric choice to trim.

  When I was working on my historical Cinderella ensemble, I spent longer than was reasonable (certainly longer than was necessary) agonizing over every detail of the apron. Pockets? No pockets? How long should it be? How full? Wide waistband or narrow? How wide or narrow should the hems be? I ultimately decided on narrow waistband and hems with no pockets in the interest of maximizing my fabric, and because a white apron would probably have been more for show than practicality, I left off the pockets.

  I have scads of aprons pinned on my Pinterest boards, ranging from frilly unpractical styles popular with the upper class during the eighteenth century to coverall linen styles inspired by Japanese smocks to gardening aprons with pockets to the “apron dress” ubiquitous amongst Viking and SCA reenactors.

  Some of my very favorites come from the eighteenth century, either very frilly and silly or colorful and practical and a fun way to add some color to an outfit. My other favorite time for aprons is the 1930s, when the Great Depression made economy a concern at the forefront of most people’s minds. Traditionally the purpose of an apron was to protect the clothing underneath, as the apron would be easier to launder and could be worn several times in between washing. Not only was laundry a very labor intensive chore for generations preceding the automatic washing machine, soaps were often caustic and damaging. An apron was less fabric to wash and cheaper to replace. During the 1930s there were patterns published for aprons that only needed one yard of fabric, and plenty of ideas for trim to add some style.
  I have half a shelf in my pantry devoted to storing my own aprons. I have a cute little red and white checked half apron from my childhood just-learning-to-bake days, a yellow cotton crocheted half apron that was an impulse project a few years ago, the green linen smock apron I bought from this awesome Etsy seller (I LOVE Etsy, that’s a whole ‘nother post!), and very fun Firefly nerd reference apron from a dear friend with Vera composed of versions kitchen tools on it, a strawberry shortcake apron my mom sewed me...I have plenty, is the point. More than. I have enough to host a baking party and outfit several guests. And yet like Ariel, I’m not satisfied - I want more! My next apron project will probably be an attempt at the Dottie Angel frock pattern from simplicity (1080). Because I definitely need another one to add to my collection ;) And some matching ones for my daughter. Because reasons. 

Truth AND Fiction: you can’t make me choose

  I LOVE fairytales. I mean LOVE them. Ever since I could read they have been my favorite stories; I had books of Hans Christian Anderson, Aesop’s Fables, Grimm, a collection of tales from around the world, and from my Grandma, every cartoon movie Disney made unless my parents told her not send it. Beauty and the Beast, Thumbelina, Ever After - I could watch those movies over and over and over again. Some of my favorite books now as an adult are fairytale retellings. I just can’t get enough.

  My other great reading obsession love is history. Historical fiction, classic novels, non-fiction, I love it all, but especially the period from about 1790-1830, known as part of the Federal Era in the United States, the Napoleonic Era in Europe, the extended Regency period in Britain, the beginning of the Romantic movement in art and literature...there’s just so much change and incredible art and fashion and social upheaval that occurred during this time! The time of Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, Vigee Le Brun, Dolley Madison, the Lewis and Clark expedition and the incredible Sacajawea...it fascinates me endlessly. I have an entire shelf on my library wall dedicated to these few decades.
  (One of those Disney movies we didn’t get as kids? Pocahontas. My mom was horrified that they took an actual historic figure and told her story wrong. I now share this horror and have been informed by fellow Disney nerds that I’m not really missing out.)

  SO. All this to say, that when I saw this adorable fan art of Cinderella pop up on my Pinterest feed, I completely lost my mind. Gorgeous drawing of Disney princess, PLUS she’s wearing turn of the nineteenth century clothing? Love it! I instantly knew I wanted to cosplay this drawing, but I was struggling with how to represent the color scheme in at least a vaguely historically accurate manner - then, lo and behold, Katherine (koshka-the-cat) posted this blog entry about short gowns, and I was inspired. (See also this article, and this extant shortgown that I used for the justification of my front drawstring closure.)
  And while this post is about Cinderella, I decided why stop there? DO ALL THE THINGS (princesses)!! So this is the first of hopefully many historically inspired Disney princess cosplays. Thanks a million to my incredible talented baby sister for being willing to come over and take photos of me modeling my outfit! She wasn’t happy with the lighting so these are just teaser photos until we can try again, earlier in the day. Also, my respect for cosplayers has increased tenfold because wow, I felt ridiculous. Also also I now doubly understand why most of them use wigs; does anyone ever have a good hair day when they are supposed to have photos taken? Because I want some of that juju.

  So here a few photos of me feeling silly and looking like a ridiculous nerd, with hopefully more to come 🤓

Scrubbing the floor...

Taking a wee little breather...

Someone at the door?

Wondering if I should interrupt the “music lesson” to give Stepmother the invite

Dreaming about dancing the night away at the palace

So that’s that! More photos to follow, with hopefully better lighting (and hair, though I’m not quite ready for a wig yet - I hate wearing them!) plus look forward to WAY too much exposition on my outfits design and head canon about this character with some detail shots of hems and seams!