Decorating the Underskirts

Throughout this project I've tried to really pay attention to the small details. Because there are a lot pieces and a lot of movement in the skirt I didn't want to ignore the base skirts. In the book the Princess does go to a ball and dance, and in a performance with all that movement I wouldn't want the underskirt to be plain if it might be seen. So I've decided to just do some small decoration around the base kind of relating to both eras the bodice's are taken from. It is also helpful to decorate and finish the skirts now so that when all the layers are on I won't have to struggle to do the hem or decorate it.

Princess Colour:

Lambert, M. (1991) Fashion in Photography 1860-1880. London: B.T. Batsford.

 I really love this photograph from 1870. I think it has a great subtlety of style and I especially like the different layers of decoration on the skirt.

I tried to evoke the style of layered decoration from the old photograph in my underskirt. I didn't want the decoration to be over-whelming and over-all very whimsical and sweet. The lace is actually the negative of the lace that I used to decorate the hoop skirt that is under it. The black lace is threaded through with some pink wool. Aside from adding visual interest I also like this because it is, in it's essence) all the colours that the over-dress will have on it: pink, cream, and black. I'm very happy with this decoration.


Princess Silhouette:

Kyoto Costume Institute. (2002) Fashion: A History from the 18th Century to 20th

                             Century. Hong Kong: Taschen.

This 18th century dress (with a close up on the right) contains some of my favourite decoration from this era. It is very romantic and very rococo! From this I took the kind of wavey type trim that is a bit more narrow.

Although this isn't a very colourful trim like on Princess Colour I feel it really adds a lot to the underskirt. The matte tone of the cotton against the shiny fabric adds a bit more depth and tones down the brightness a lot. Creating this trim was very easy with just some pinking shears, fray check, and lots of strips; but it really does add another element to the skirt. I like that it makes it look more decadent and stylish, which Princess Silhouette is. I also added a very thin line of simple black lace to cover up the machine stitching on the hem.