1770 Robe à la française (la framboise française)
(Photos courtesy of Diana Habra)
September, 2007
This gown had a second outting on Sept. 22, 2007 for the Société des Lumières autumn fete. Fabulousness all around!
August, 2007
So, there you are, preparing for Costume College and feeling pretty pinched for time. You reason with yourself that you're going to wear costumes you already have finished and that will have to due because you simply cannot spend time sewing anything new. And then you promptly decide to handsew a robe à la française. In other words, you'd be crazy. :)This francaise was actually a good way along when I returned to it in early July. I had put it down a year before, having lost enthusiasm for the project (it was the product of the 2 day workshop given by Janea Whitacre that I took in June 2006. Kendra's peach française was another product of the same workshop). Most of the gown had been finished, leaving the sleeves, petticoat and embellishment left to be done. Since I'd started hand sewing it, I felt compelled to finish it by hand, and for the next three weeks I worked on it every waking hour I could. Surprisingly, the hand sewing didn't take as much time as I expected it to; I was able to finish the whole thing about a week before my deadline.
This was a secret project, so I wanted it to be a surprise when I wore it to the Gala on Saturday night. Kendra totally rocked and did my hair in a stunning 1770s arrangement (and special props to her for successfully getting my hair to hold a curl) . And not a single hair piece was used! I felt like such a rockstar that night... It's the closest thing to a red carpet event I'll probably ever go to. I popped a few seams dancing to ABBA, but it was worth it. I had a FABULOUS time, and that, simply put, is the whole reason I do this stuff. :)
Alyxx Ianetta, in her beautiful man's 18th century suit, and I, hamming it up for the cameras:
(Above photo by Trystan Bass)
In progress shots of the gown:
