Your Wardrobe Unlock'd

Too often we settle for pale imitations or modern costume jewelry to adorn our Victorian gowns, but that doesn't have to be the case.

The key to an accurate 18th century gown is the right fabric. Hallie explains what to look for and what to avoid when you're shopping.

Regardless of whether you've been naughty or nice this year, we've got lots of tempting ideas for your gift list, from tools to calendars!

Tips and tricks for scoring big on eBay - and introducing some less well-trodden auction sites for vintage and antique deals.

Janyce Hill of the Vintage Pattern Lending Library tells us all about her ambitious archival project, showing us a few of her patterns.

A bad fabric choice can cause an accurate, researched, handsewn reproduction to look disappointingly modern. Here's how to do it right.

We've gone through our links, pored over the bookshelves and searched for the best in books to help you create a masterpiece for the Natural Form Era 1876-1882.

We've got an awesome trilogy of ladies' tailoring books by Charles Hecklinger and his equally amazing trilogy of men's tailoring books.  

Having trouble getting a smooth fit to a cuirass bodice or Princess dress? We've found period  fitting guides with step-by-step pictures to guide you through the process.  Want to know what options women had for corsets and petticoats? Check out a mail order catalog from 1883.  And that's just the free stuff, not from a bookstore!

Marion's got all the books and resources you need to create an amazing ensemble for the Revolutionary period:

The Must Have books and the Nice-to-Haves; A 1785 French fashion magazine with men's and women's dress, hat and wig fashions; and much more!

 

 

This month on the Letters, Questions and Answers page we have:

Two requests for men's clothing articles (and the answer) Regency pinafores as seen in Jane Austen films: did they really exist? A free, globally available wealth of Regency fashion plates in full color What does Dickens mean by a "comforter" in A Christmas Carol?

The best sources for cage crinoline supplies, corsetry, fine cotton fabrics for undies, and wide eyelet and cutwork lace for frilliness.

Details on where to get quality materials to re-create all kinds of extant ruffs, collars, smocks, shifts and chemises.

Here's a wide collection of suppliers for just about any corsetry supply you might wish for, even legal Baleen (real whalebone)!

Following a reader request, here's a brief tour of several websites that carry good quality, not-too-expensive new laces and trims.

This month, we feature Burnley & Trowbridge Co. as our website of the month.

This month one of our themes at YWU is about being in business as a seamster or seamstress, but you may have noticed that you can learn from advice for businesspeople even if you're not taking money for your sewing.

Well, here's another thing to consider, whether or not you're in it for the money. Have you thought about labelling your creations?

This month I'm going to send you to another site that's not a costume site at all, but a site that you can use as a tool to open up your costuming horizons. And rather than tell you the theory, I'm going to show you how it works.

My grandmother had her own atelier where she made fur coats after World War II until they went out of fashion. My mother is a costumer and has studied arts. I studied Graphic Design & Mediation and always loved crafts.

I did not start sewing until after my divorce, when I had to sell my horses I suddenly had time and a desire to do something new and for myself. I used to help my mother with basting and cutting of clothes to make, but never actually used a sewing machine.

I only started in 2004, I made most improvement by one simple rule, sew everyday for at least one hour. First it's to make progress, next it's to maintain your level.

Englishwoman Michelle Pye has an extraordinary breadth of experience within sewing. She is an accomplished tailoress, dressmaker, teacher and retailer of fine interlinings.

 

 

 

It was a couple of years ago that, resigned to a half hour of boredom, I picked up a nondescript magazine in my doctor's surgery. To my surprise and delight, it wasn't long before I was willing the delay to continue for as long as possible, for within the pages of that dog-eared periodical was an article about the Gainsborough Silk Weaving Company.