The Wedding Dress- the Final Stretch

Coming up to the final stretch here!   That is: getting that monster panel of a skirt onto the bodice, which means pleating about 175" of length, that the skirt edge now measures, (after reducing it) into the 26" that the corset waist measures.

The answer is cartridge pleating, this type of pleating, used mainly in costumes and period clothing reproduction today, serves several purposes.  It reduces a very large length of cloth much more effectively than simply gathering and the construction causes the pleating to stand out and creates volume. Here, it will give a very pretty and controlled volume to the skirt and I can make full use of the uninterrupted panel of embroidery.

I do a little test and find out that the floral motif in the solid section of linen does not take to the pleating at all. I decide to pick it out. I discover that all these flower petals are incredibly, & beautifully, padded out with layers of under stitching in a cream colored cotton yarn. The embroidery covers this pad stitching perfectly and it is a lot of of work to pick out. But I can't pleat it properly otherwise. So I pick out all the petals that intersect the pleating area.

The beautiful padding stitches- partially removed

Then I line the skirt, I was lucky to find in the perfect shade of china silk. It is simply attached at cut edge and the layers merrowed clean. I also just merrowed the lining hem, I am starting to feel stressed.

The pleats are formed with a running stitch, by eye,  as evenly as possible and using super strong thread. Then stitched, all by hand,  by catching just the top fold of each pleat to the bodice. My hand sewing is rusty - not much call for it in leather (best if there's none).   Here's another test shot- kind of a straight cross view:

At the bottom you can see the tabs that will lie under the skirt.

The silicora thread only comes in black and  dead white, but the non-match won't be a problem

Inside showing final cartridge pleating

outside  of cartridge pleating, my hand stitching sucks but it will not show( at all) when on- That's the beauty of this beast!

The front of the skirt has no pleats and is stitched to 'float' under the extended front of the corset

See!

On a hangar, you don't get the effect of the pleats

I still need figure out what to replace that zipper pull ribbon with!

Next : The Finishing Touches.

The Wedding Dress- the Final Stretch

Death by Fashion

In NYC the other day somebody died by low-hanging pants. 

(I had to add this photo- yes we actually see this (and lower) in NYC, midtown, Herald Square -  uh... like 25 years after the fact...it's like a mohawk - 35 years after the dole... )

I have to say here that I have always wondered when this would happen.

For way too many years, there has been this low-hanging pants thing going on and while you see it less and less in the city, it seems to get more and more extreme each time you do.

It's to the point where the pants are belted around under the butt &  up a just trifle in front, since it ain't gravity holding them up! And bizarrely it's a look almost always affected by (grown?) men.
Also nobody seems to pay much attention to the brand of underwear they are exposing- as they did in the old days. It was a big deal back when....

Anyhow, I've always thought, "What if you have to RUN! ???"

Well it finally happened. Guy robs an apartment and has to flee down fire escape. Pant fall. Crash. Guy gone.

Has a "fashion" statement ever added to the annals of the Darwin awards?
There are other types of fashion victims, but Low-Hanging Pants, really becomes Darwin.

LHP are nowhere near as dramatic (or gory) a statement as blowing your nose and blowing your brains out. (Italy, 15th century & the rage for blond hair - probably a costume history myth, but still.. )

Or as quirky as what was the madness followed by death (by mercury) that inspired the character of the "Mad Hatter".  That was more a workplace hazard, and would be an OSHA thing today.

Or as merveilluese-ly,  tragic as clingy, wet muslin dresses in stone mansions in winter. (France & England early 19th century) Pneumonia anyone?

Or as "elegant" as the pallor achieved by sucking on real lead pencils slightly later. (shudder) These last two are pretty Darwin.

And, Thankfully no where near as hideous nor as finally game changing as the combination of voluminous skirts and flame.  (Santiago Chile in 1863 & the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist fire where the seamstress's long skirts hampered escape & exacerbated the danger.)

And face it, death by Low-Hanging Pants will never leave a segment of society reeling, as Isadora Duncan's did in 1927 via a scarf caught in a car's tire.

The list of fashion victims goes on and on, but there are not too many that really fit into the Darwin category (improving the gene pool by removing yourself from it)  Since they are mostly historical, many are horrific tragedies and they are often unknowingly inflicted, by self or otherwise.

So, if you do know of any, particularly modern instances,  morbid curiosity compels me to ask you to leave a comment.

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Death by Fashion