Good morning, costume couturieres!
My word, what a weekend. The vote was so exciting to watch as you all made you preference known. Thank you for taking part!
I must confess that I got embarrassingly little done on Friday afternoon – I was far too busy hitting “refresh” on the results page… and then after I went to bed, the vote overloaded the system and shut it down! But more on that in a moment…
First one outfit raced ahead, then another took its place, then a third… but it occurred to me, and to those of you who emailed me, that the choice of patterns was so huge that many of you wouldn’t get to have much of a say in the final result. I think we all came to the same conclusion, in fact – we need a second round!
Final round
*phew* Yep, we’re going to do it all again. About a third of you voted for the winner, and a third or so voted for the second placed pattern. But even those of you who didn’t vote for either are likely to have a preference between the two, and the final result was so close that I want to give everyone a chance to pick between those top two patterns.
If we’re all going to be working hard to create our own version of a single pattern, then I want that winning pattern to be the first choice of as many of you as possible!
Double the choice
But there’s more! The vote was so popular that we overloaded the system and the vote shut down early. Some of you emailed me your votes – thank you very much for those – but I have no way of knowing whether there were more of you who found the poll closed when you came to vote, or who you are. So here’s what we’re going to do.
We’re going to double the second vote to a choice of FOUR finalists, which should give everyone a strong chance to have a say. We’re going to do the poll right there on YWU, which ensures that everyone will have a chance to make their voice heard.
Make your voice heard!
The voting form will go live later this week. Meanwhile… I’m about to give your the four finalists. What do you think of the results so far? Did your favourite make it through? Which pattern do YOU think should be our ultimate winner?
Now’s the time to start campaigning. Which of those final four patterns should win? Which do YOU want to make? Comment below, make the case for your favourite and help its chances of winning the final vote!
Well 2 of the patterns that I voted for are there. To be honest I like all of those dresses so I don’t really care either way. I just want to be involved. But if I HAD to choose one of them (and of course we do have to choose… costuming A.D.D rearing it’s ugly head) than I’d have to go with the regency.
I want to do a historical costume based off a fictional literary character. I can’t really think of any book character I’d like to portray more than someone from Johathan Strange and Mr Norrell by S. Clark. Even though all the main characters are men, the book is so amazing. I love all the little drawings. I’m sure I could find one to do that dress justice.
Hey, I didn’t get a notice telling me voting was open at all! Wah, I missed my chance!
It’s kinda funny though, the finalist are all really close together age-wise.
I love regency, but I also love the day dress ahnd the summer dress. The only one I don’t want is Sacque gown, so that doesn’t really help, does it? And now I have to chose again! Do you realize that making me chose here might cost me the willpower to resist having chocolate today? The agony, the pain… whichever one it will be, it will end up being something danceable though!
I really would love to do the Piemontaise sac back, but maybe the Regency is more practical for most people.
One of mine made it through.
I am surprised by the voting, I expected a few of the older ones and the ball dress to have been voted for heavily.
I have to admit that I would not make the Summer Dress. It is just not ‘me’. The Day Dress is impressive but I would like to see it redrafted for a fuller bust before I committed any fabric to the project.
I do like the Empire line but would like one of those neat little jackets /boleros? to go with it…. and a bonnet of course.
It will be interesting to see how the voting goes.
Alice, those little jackets are called spencers.
I have a deep craving to make the Regency, but I also have a deep craving to make the 1860s day dress. The Regency would probably be better for me personally because there would be less in the way of undergarments that I would have to figure out. And this might all be moot anyway as I might not even be able to afford fabric…
Spencers, how charming. Is there a story as to why they are called Spencers?
I am going to cheat financially. I have a roll of a rich crimson fabric that I picked up in a charity store many moons ago.
Whichever pattern is chosen my dress will be in that fabric. When it comes to cutting corners I’m with Scarlett O’Hara and the green curtains. ( By the way have you ever thought about how long it would have taken Mammy to have made that dress. Rhett must have been in jail for quite a while.)
I am determined to do as much as possible with the fabrics and bits that have accumulated over the years. It may not be ideal but thats where I will start and it is part of the challenge.
I’m rooting for the 1885 summer dress or the sacque back gown. I’ve made a victorian day dress before, and empire fashions don’t look very good on me. I prefer fashions that elongate the figure and emphasize an elegant waist. Unfortunately, I think I’ll just look short and stumpy in the Regency!
–Nancy
I voted for dresses that I haven’t seen a good pattern for yet, and for ones that I can actually use out of. So two of the ones I voted for made it to the winnners circle. There’s already way too many bustle gowns available, and I’d be afraid to wear the sacque back for fear of it being stepped on. I love the fitted look of the 1860s dress, and that’s the prettiest crossover Regency I’ve seen yet.
And Alice has a good idea; use fabric out of your stash to create the winning gown!
I never figured out how to vote for the pattern the first time around, but I want to vote for the sacque back.
Mary, did you get the email with instructions? You may need to check your spam folder.
I have to go against the grain here so far and say that the regency gown is my least favourite of the finalists. I actually don’t think it’s that great an example, it looks kind of like a sack cinched under the bust to me.
Speaking of sacks/saques, since I’m HEAVILY steeped in the 18th century in terms of making until about March, and writing until next Sept (it’s my MA), I’d REALLY REALLY rather do something else!
I think the 1860s dress could so easily provide immense scope for creativity either in terms of historicity or interpretation, there are so many nifty details to play with!
However, for the direction I want to take I’ll be voting for the bustle dress. I also think that it may be more manageable for more people than the 1860s example.
I have to admit that I’d seriously reconsider participating if the Regency dress won, this particular example just doesn’t do anything for me.
I’m really quite impressed with all 4 of the final choices. Under normal circumstances, I would leap at the chance to make any of those gowns.
However, I do think it might be better to do a gown that didn’t require specific undergarments. Both of the Victorians really would require a corset and some kind of skirt support, and the sacque would need a corset at the least. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made corsets and hoops, they don’t scare me, I just think they might add more to this project than some people were planning on.
Yes, all of those gowns could be done without undergarments, but we’re a bunch of costumers. Most of us want to do things, well, the hard way (or at least the long way which includes every little nuance we can find).
Don’t get me wrong. If I had all of my own underpinnings for all the eras, I’d be jumping on that sacque gown. I just thing that given not everyone has underpinnings already, and many may not want to make them, I think we should go with the Empire gown for simplicity’s sake. Yes, that period had underpinnings too, but they’re far more simplistic than either the Rococo or Victorian periods and can be mostly ignored and still achieve the proper shape.
Just my 2 cents.
Pah! neither of my two favourites are in. I did vote for the sacque back, but it was my third choice for practicalities sake. I was hoping for either the caraco or the 1914 coat.
I’m not keen on the regency dress. I’m pretty sure that would make me look like a bundle of washing tied in the middle.
Also, do we not want something that’s quite complex and stretching, something that’s fodder for a wide array of tutorials, and with a lot of scope for adaptation. There again, I’m not sure the regency dress, or that particular regency dress, is the best option for that.
The other three offer more options for variation I would say. I ‘m swinging towards the 1860s day dress, which surprises me. Whatever, the cost of fabric is going to hurt a bit!
Two of mine made it in. I love the Regency look on others, but being very heavy busted I would look like a sack of spuds. I adore the 1860’s day dress to bits because it appears to be made of different parts. The skirt, the blouse and the jacket which all have their scope for creativity and the lines are quite plain (if not simple) which means you can be as complex as you like with your decoration. You can also tackle one piece of it at a time.
After that? The Sacque back gown. Not made one before so it will be a real learning experience for me.
Well if I HAVE to choose, then my vote goes out to:
1860s Day Dress!!!
Why?
Because of the versatillity, you have a bolero jacket, a bodice and a skirt.
These you can embellish is sooo many ways, embroidery,special fabrics,adding soutache cord,tassels,fringes,roses,laces and so and on.
It’s big so you can be extravagant and details will be more noticed then on a less Grande outfit.
But using as special fabric and leaving it at that, can be equally gorgeous!
They’re all lovely… I’ll happily make whichever one wins, but it’s true that they’ll all require underpinnings!
In response to Alice (I know this is off-topic, BUT…) In “Gone With the Wind” when they’re making the dress, ALL the girls worked on it, at least in the book. That’s Scarlett, Melly, Suellen, Careen, Mammy, Dilcy and possibly even Prissy (scary thought!). With six or seven women, all of whom (except Prissy…) would’ve been experienced seamstresses, it would’ve taken no time at all. In fact, if I remember correctly, it was two or three days.
delirium71, I wanted the coat too!
I have to agree with the comments, although the regency would be simpler because of the way we can ignore (more or less) the undergarments, it really isn’t the nicest example. Although perhaps that’s the point, we should be thinking how we can make it better, using the basic pattern?
Other than that, I suppose I can’t really decide between the 1860s or the sacque. Neither are of any practical use to me, so I reckon if I am going to be able to waste the money needed for the fabric, I may as well go with one I have more of an interest in trying (the sacque), although the 1860s could be better adapted to something unusually modern perhaps… See, I can’t even decide as I type! This is going to be very tough. Perhaps we need an independent adjudicator….
Perhaps I’ll find someone with curtains I can use, isn’t it great that we all go back to that scene?!
One thing I would like to point out regarding the “saque” dress – just if you’re interested in it because you haven’t made one before: it’s not a real saque. You can see in the photo that the pleats falling from the shoulder are a seperate piece of fabric from the rest of the dress. This was an adaptation made as the sack-back style was on its way out at the end of the 18th century. The proper sack-back is cut all in one with the rest of the dress, pleated, and made fitted by way of the bodice lining.
I know this probably doesn’t matter to most people, nor should it really. I just thought I’d point out that if you’re into it for the experience, or to have one of these, you might want to bear this in mind.
Happy voting!