Historical dresses say so much about the past. They tell a story, that of the wearer and the time in which they lived. Re-creating historical dresses allows the wearer to step back in time without having any of those pesky negative side-effects of actually having to live in that time (lack of modern plumbing, for example).
The Edwardian period started in 1901 after the death of Queen Victoria and the rise of Edward to the thrown. It lasted until 1911, but it’s style influence kept going until we start to see the rise of the 20s styles after WWI. It was an interesting time for woman as the multiple corsets of the Victorian grandmothers were beginning to be rejected. They still wore a corset until the start of the 20s, just not as many as they once did. Modesty still reigned supreme, but we do see more women entering into ‘sports’ so costumes reflected that (bicycling outfits as an example).
The garden party was a popular event in the ‘big’ houses in the English countryside. Guests could wonder the park, play croquet or lawn tennis, admire the gardens and enjoy the refreshments. Clothing-wise, women wore predominantly white, with hats adorned with flowers, and a parasol to protect them from the sun. Traditionally, men wore light tweeds with hats.
I recently had an event to go to where I was able to make and wear an Edwardian Garden Party dress. It was my first Edwardian dress and it was lovely to wear. I started off with a pattern that I used the sizing chart and instead of making a muslin (silly me), I just cut it out of my main fabric. This turned out to be a HUGE mistake, as it ended up being two times too big for me. Sigh. So as I didn’t have any extra fabric, I just tweaked what I had. I added an extra piece of fabric to the neck line so that the bodice didn’t fall right off my shoulders, and trimmed off a few inches off each side of the skirt, added gathers where there wasn’t supposed to be on the skirt and the bodice and then covered most of it up with hand-stitched lace. In the end, I think the style of the ‘S-bend’ hid my mistakes well. I also made a belt to help pull the fabric in at the waist.
I kept to tradition in doing French seams and hand-stitched a lot of the bodice, including all the lace. I did cheat with adding snaps instead of hooks and eyes at the back as I wanted to be able to get into and out of it without help. I also made a chemise based on one I found on-line from 1910. I found a petticoat for $10 (yay!) at a vintage clothing shop.
For the hat, I ordered a straw hat from Amazon.com and then cut into its stitches to remove some of the height. I stitched it back together once I was happy with the height. A thimble was really helpful here to push the needle through the straw. I then added lace, ribbons and fake flowers for decoration.
I had a few antique doilies from my Great Grandmother that were damaged and so I used one to make a reticule (draw-string bag). Ladies were only just starting to carry purses (handy for their fan, calling card and maybe a small mirror), with them and the reticule was a popular way for them to show off their hand stitching and embroidery skills. I don’t really have these 😂 so, the doilies were a quick hack.
Check out my instagram feed for more pics from the day! I don’t think this will be my last Edwardian dress! It really did feel dreamy to wear.
Art & Sew 