I'm kicking off 2020 with a 1920s inspired dress of black and gold.
Emma & Mila Cotton Gold Dash Black The Eve Collection
It started with a black and gold fabric that I found at Walmart of all places. The first time that I saw the fabric the gold details reminded me of layers of fringe found on some flapper dresses. I finally splurged on 2 yards of fabric with the plan to make a sleeveless one-hour dress. After getting the fabric home however, I remembered the gold lamé left over from some project likely dating back to the 1990s. I pulled out the scraps and decided that it all worked quite well, but the lamé consisted of scraps of less than one yard each. A series of design ideas passed through my mind at this point - an all black dress with gold lamé gussets added to the skirt, a gold lamé under-dress/chemise that the black fabric could drape over, the list went on. After days of browsing Pinterest for inspiration I finally settled on a deep gold lamé triangle built into the front of the dress. Most of the 1920s dresses that I found with that sort of V shape actually relied on a wrap-front dress with the under layer peeking through. However, I only had 2 yards and still wanted to leave the second half of it to provide some fullness to the skirt.
Inspration Dresses from Left to Right: 1920s Pink Dresss from exhibit at University of Saint Francis, 1927 Jeanne Lanvin Dress, Jeanne Lanvin Illustration.
Once I had my goal in mind I was able to get started on the dress, and cut and sewed all but one seam in one day. The major hiccup came when I accidentally burned the back of the gold lamé with the iron while turning down the seam allowance of the V detail. Remember, that stuff really is just plastic. Thankfully the plastic did not stick to my iron. There was a small bead of gold plastic on the iron, but the iron was still hot and it wiped off onto the ironing board with no lasting damage! The other good thing is that the melting only happened on the back of the fabric, so it's not visible on the front of the garment. It looks a bit scratchy, but the fabric was scratchy to begin with, so I was planning to wear a tank top underneath the dress anyway.
You can see what my iron looks like...
The next design question (and final step of the garment) was attaching the skirt to the dress. My first instinct was to just gather and sew to the waistband. However, gathers usually take a lot more effort than I feel that they should. My second thought was pleats. I've seen them in plenty of photographs and extant garments, and they would lie nice and flat all around the skirt. However, they might detract from the design printed on the fabric. And then my thought process got a little weird, but bear with me. So the gold lamé triangle in the front looks a bit like a stomacher, and the more extreme versions of the 1920s Robe de Style is reminiscent of panniers, so what if I stuck with that 18th-century vibe and put all of my extra fabric in side gathers?
Some 18th-century fashion inspiration and its 1920s reinterpretations from Left to Right: 1745 Mantua from Colonial Williamsburg, Undated Photo of Louise Brooks, 1927 Robe de Style at the National Gallery of Australia, 1926-1927 Robe de Style at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Intellectually, I am amused by the idea of an 18th-century flapper dress, but I was not sure that I had enough fabric to pull it off. Additionally, I don't feel like making the undergarments to make them really stand out. At least not today.
The completed dress!
Would I make it again? Probably not. I wanted this dress for several reasons: the twenties are back, sparkly dress, the new Miss Fisher movie, and the fact that the fabric spoke so loudly to me. However, this my my third foray into 1920s fashion, and it's not my favorite look for my figure. I may use 1920s elements in future projects, but don't expect many more dresses in this style.
In going back to cite some of the sources I used I was surpised to find how many of them came from Jeanne Lanvin. If I do continue working with 1920s fashions, I'll have to research a little bit more about her.
Historical Sew Monthly
Challenge: Celebration
Material: 2 yards of cotton blend fabric and scraps of gold lame
Pattern: My own
Year: 1920s
Notions: Black thread
How historically accurate is it? The shape is right, and I can use extant pieces or period images to justify the V, the belt and the pleating. I don't think that this plastic version of gold lamme existed in the 1920s, but I'm having difficutly learning about the history of gold lame. Additionally the black fabric is all wrong. It would have worked better if it were lighter and more drapey. It probably should have been block printed, but it feels more like a screen print. I have no evidence to support the design printed onto the fabric, although it does have a bit of an Art Nouveau feel. It is 100% cotton. From a distance it has the right shape and sparkle for a 1920s evening gown, but not up close.
Hours to complete: A little over one day with breaks, so about 8 hours
First worn: Next month at the Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears movie
Total cost: $15
Sources
1920s Dress. Fashionable Art: Apparel from the 1920s and 1930s, School of Creative Arts, University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne, Indiana, September 8-October 12, 2012. https://fashionableartexhibit-blog.tumblr.com/post/22844367961/one-of-the-1920s-dresses-that-will-be-featured-in. Accessed 1/27/2020. Photo by David Kirk Photography.
House of Lanvin, Robe de Style, fall/winter 1926-1927, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 23 August 2004. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/80017913. Accessed 1/27/2020.
Jeanne Lanvin, 1927. Posted on https://www.pinterest.com/pin/457748749628657224/. Accessed 1/27/2020.
Jeanne Lanvin, Illustration. Posted on htttps://www.pinterest.com/pin/457748749628744041/. Accessed 1/27/2020.
Jeanne LANVIN, Woman's evening dress (Robe de style), 1927, Canberra, National Gallery of Australia. https://artsearch.nga.gov.au/detail.cfm?irn=170157. Accessed 1/27/2020.
Mantua, ca. 1745, Williamsburg, Colonial Williamsburg. Posted on https://fripperiesandfobs.tumblr.com/post/18277449599/mantua-ca-1745-from-colonial-williamsburg. Accessed 1/27/2020.
Undated photo of Louise Brooks. Posted on https://retro-ladies.livejournal.com/365938.html. Accessed 1/27/2020.