Since Mother Eve in the Garden long ago

Things I like about PastPerfect V: Not opening fields as windows that have to be x'd out to save the record. It's a lot easier to navigate between, say, the People fields of different records this way.

Things I hate about PastPerfect V: THE LAG IS SO MUCH WORSE. I click on a field, type, realize I'm not in edit mode, click edit, oops the first field on the page is now full of irrelevant letters. I swear it's worse in V than IV. Or maybe it's just the networking slowing it down? Maybe I'm unfair.

I have to rant, which I normally don't do while at work, but it's so frustrating. ( Read more... )

I already know not to let this get under my skin, but it does, it just does.

My leg hurts even worse today, probably because I did very little for it yesterday and then went for my usual 1.5 mile walk. :( Now instead of just a muscle in my hip, it's also a muscle in my calf and another in my foot.

Yesterday I took the opportunity to finish off my stays à la paresseuse (apart from the hook and eye). They work okay and I'm going to use them for a good while, but there's something awkward/insecure-feeling about them. I think there's not enough pull-back on the shoulders, but also some gusset issues. I didn't cut the slits quite deep enough, and I ALWAYS make the gussets the wrong shape, too triangular, too wide at the top and not wide enough at the bottom. But this is still way better than my terrible thesis stays.

So now I can finally think about dresses! Yes, I could shrinkify my ugly pink striped dress, and I may very well do that once I'm past my shame and horror of it, but for now it's best for me to start fresh. I'm kinda feeling like this could be my moment for trying out silk! 1805-1807 is what I'm looking at as I want to make a sheer round apron/apron dress to go over it, so maybe a medium blue with some kind of narrow trim on the bottom. I'd like to an applied ribbon channel, the precursor to the wadded hem, but I'm not totally sure how to do it.

I told starlightmasque I would have pictures, and since I just cut down the paint stirrer to fit as a busk, I took them!

( from a couple of angles )

Really wrinkly compared to Sabine's, but they are doing what they're supposed to be. Unlike my thesis short stays, they are adequately supportive and also push my stomach in a bit. Yay! Success!

At first, before I cut the busk down, I thought the gussets were too big. But now it seems like they might actually be a bit small. I'm inclined to just go with it, since them being smaller gives me a little push-up. What do you think? Any other (relatively easy-to-fix) issues you see that I've missed?

The first dress I patterned was supposedly worn to a ball for the opening of the Erie Canal in 1821 - I believe it. The styling fits perfectly for the date, for one thing. And the bodice is decorated with pink satin dents des loups (bands with zig-zag edges) and chains made of thick, satin-covered cord. It's kind of a stretch, but it seems to me that it's possible for someone to have commissioned chains on their gown for an industrial-related ball. Stop judging me! It makes sense! Anyway, the main fabric is a very light crepe, doubled in the bodice and with no lining. Worn with a slip, or just very light? Not sure. But it's definitely for dancing. And there's a lovely pink belt with a point à la Mary Stuart or Catherine de' Medici or someone historical.

The second is a bit boring, but that's good as I want to represent boring daily wear. Though the high number of stitches per inch is anything but boring - 22-24 in various spots. They're minuscule. Probably 1824 or so? Sleeves very full at the top, lots of very impressively ruched trim applied over the bodice and inserted in the sleeves. I think it's a good addition, but I'm almost certainly going to end up with more patterns than I need for the book just so I can make decisions later.

Then I started in on a camisole/morning jacket(? I haven't done LBA yet, not sure of all the English terms) with teeny weeny Van Rensselaer initials on it. Plain heavy white cotton, excellent condition, and not something that's already been done AFAIK. But I didn't get to pattern the sleeves today as it was suddenly 5 o'clock, so I'll finish it tomorrow. I can't remember what else was left for tomorrow - there's a child's dress (I think) that looks really fancy, and a petticoat, but I might not spend another 4 hours.

LEE PACE AS A REALLY MINOR CHARACTER IN THIS EPISODE OF SVU AAHHHHH

Probably the most interesting thing I'm taking away right now (I'm in 1805, cropping and reading - stopped taking notes, I tend to be too detailed and waste a lot of time) is that in the 1800s and probably 1810s, the gown really was not that important to fashion. The descriptions are always about ribbons, hats, shoes, hairstyles, and what colors these things are (not hairstyles obvs). While the text is also completely full of crap - one week "oh nobody has short hair anymore it's totally gone", next week "everyone has their hair so short!" (that said there are mentions of wigs, so maybe not entirely crap) - the colors tend to stay within a narrow range each season and it seems like it overall moves pretty slowly. I think it's less that the wealthy bought new gowns frequently and less wealthy women refreshed theirs, and more that everyone expected to retrim, though at different rates.

Chapeaux and capotes are two different things, but it's not totally clear how. AFAICT fur, felt, and straw are only used in hats, and capotes always have a soft crown. I think they may have been sold by different vendors as well. Toques have no brims and toquets have no brims and are made of light fabric, sold by linen-makers.

Today I learned that lol_meme is still using the whole rustling sheets thing. Because I was a failure at life in 2008 (2007?) who thought she would rustle her sheets to try to make her sucky roommate know she was awake and turn off the damn light. That is my lasting contribution to the internet, a new term for being annoyed.

With you in spirit, Julie!