Fresh Frippery

(Oops, I thought this was published May 2, but apparently it was in my draft folder the whole time!)

As promised, here are some pictures of me wearing the Gibson Girl dress, and all the gorgeous ladies at the Gaskell Ball who also did a Gibson theme.

I apologize for the lighting in the photos. I took these with my phone because I forgot my camera in my sewing room after taking pictures of the completed gown.

There were a group of 8 of us that did Gibson Girl dresses, with sleeves running the gamut from off-the-shoulder to giant fun poof!

A back view. I loved the variety of colors and textures!

We got a little saucy at one point.

Which caused one of the girls to faint.

But she revived.

And we had a lovely time!

Two things I would like to point out:

1. Half of us were wearing shoes from American Duchess, who makes comfortable, danceable, historical footwear. I am currently waiting to receive a pair of “Gibson” Edwardian shoes I ordered. I highly recommend American Duchess!

2. The lady in the very lovely dress with the roses is Natalie, and you can read about her gown at Frolicking Frocks. I love how detailed her construction notes are!

The rest of my photos are on my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vivien_misc/sets/72157633356227565/

My Gibson Girl dress is finished and I wore it to the Gaskell Ball last night. (The next post will feature pictures of a bunch of Gibson Girls from the ball!)

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I have some little tweaks to do but the bodice is nearly complete!

As usual, I underestimated the amount of hand-sewing required. I also have some smoothing to do; I’m not entirely pleased with the little puckers.

For more construction details, peek inside.

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I have been working on the Gibson Girl trained skirt, hand-sewing the hem on the train. Right now I am trying to figure out the lace flounce before I post some progress photos.

However, my undergarments are ready!

I sewed a petticoat out of a striped taffeta I’ve had for years. (You may recognize it as the lining to this coat).

Here is a side view.

Keep reading for more pictures of the petticoat, and details of my beautiful new corset!

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Yesterday I finished gathering my materials for my Gibson Girl dress. I will be using Truly Victorian’s 1893 Bell Skirt pattern (#TV292).

I am using a periwinkle blue satin for the dress. (The fabric is darker than how the photo turned out). The hem will be trimmed with an embroidered black netting lace, and I also bought some lovely appliques from Britex to use on the bodice and skirt front.