Vanity

[chargirlgenius]

So, when and if I ever get around to making 18th century clothes, do they all have to be ankle length? I've been looking mostly at extant stuff, so I have no idea how long it would be on somebody.

I'm vain, and I've always preferred floor-length to make me look longer than wider. Ok, so I know if I add the bum roll thingies and maybe pocket hoops and all of that I'll be plenty wide, but y'know what I mean?

In other news, 29 lbs of tropical weight wool arrived today. Woo! The cranberry is a little too stretchy to be the 100% that it's advertised as, and the houndstooth is a bit too modern. So I have to think about those and what to do with them.

Comments

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

My take, which isn't exactly based on hardcore research or anything, is that the petticoats tended to be ankle length, but the gowns had skirts that ranged from ankle to floor to floor in front with a train in back.

Occasionally, skirts went even shorter, like mid-calf, but that's a really extreme length and I've only seen it a handful of times in extant garments.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

It might be fun to go shorter occasionally, but it's good to know that the gown can be longer. Which, of course, won't mean much if it's polonaise... :-)