HSM 2017 October - Robe de style

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. Norman W. Wassman, 1956

Well it's officially been ages since I did a Historical Sew Monthly challenge, but the project I now contemplate qualifies for October's challenge: Out of Your Comfort Zone!  In this case, the new skill or technique I want to try relates to a foundation garment. 

Years ago I watched a movie set in Ireland, between the two World Wars.  The main character is a girl from an English family living in Ireland as landed gentry; her family has been there for generations and think of themselves as locals, but don't recognize their privilege or how their neighbors resent them.  Anyway, the clueless girl loves an Irishman who is dead set on getting the English out of Ireland.  He has feelings for her, but hates himself for them because he's supposed to hate "her kind". 

Meanwhile, she is loved by an English soldier.  Things get tragic.  Honestly, I didn't find it all that interesting, despite it having such dramatic elements.  Despite all the politics, love triangles, and bloodshed, the part I remember best was the rather odd garment worn by the young lady to a ball... a flat-chested boxy bodice with large skirt poofing out from the hips.  I thought it was very unflattering. 

In the 1920's, when the slim boxy silhouette we now think of as a flapper dress was in vogue, older women or younger girls would opt for a more conservative gown, with more feminine lines and a bit of foofaraw on the hips.  Called the "robe de style" (say "ROBE duh STEEL"), this garment required some 18th century style underwear, which was often built into the dress, for fullness on the hips.  The big skirt below the sleeveless, low-waisted top looks very odd to modern eyes, but at the time, it was seen as the less daring option, the safe route for women who lacked either the flapper figure or the flapper sensibilities.  It may have been the safe route in its day, but it is little known nowadays.  Even YouTube, usually a trove of historical costuming videos, only yielded one video about a robe de style. 

I admit, the first few times I saw a robe de style I thought it was second only to the English Regency court gowns in hideousness.  The proportions... so wrong!  But some tastes develop from repeat exposure, even when the first impression is bad.  I blame Simplicity 3631, which introduced me to the easy comfort and attractions of a low-waisted dress.  First I made the Bonsai Dress, then the Sunshine Dress.  They are so easy to wear, yet not sloppy, and the movement in the fuller skirt of the Sunshine Dress is fun.  Yet these garments are still firmly in normal-clothing territory.  The robe de style, with its side hoops (panniers) to enlarge the hips, is well into costume territory.  I wouldn't wear one to work, for instance. 

UPCOMING BALL

But I do have a ball coming up (Portland loves themed balls!), for which a good dancing costume is required.  Historical clothing or fancy dress are encouraged, but I don't want anything heavy or corseted, since I intend to dance all night!  And I don't have much time to make myself a costume, as I'll be making a ball gown for a friend and kluging a ball gown together from several dresses for another friend.  Lots of ball gowns on the horizon!  So the robe de style looks more and more appealing.  I could use Simplicity 3631 as a base, and the only really tricky bit will be the panniers to hold the skirt out.  It's the panniers that take me Out of My Comfort Zone.  (on the other hand, I could put pockets in the panniers, which will be convenient!  Accurate for the colonial era, but I'm not sure if they're accurate for the 1920's.) 

I BEGIN TO RESEARCH...

And by "research" I mean "look at pretty pictures" and "read historical sewing blogs".  Okay, so I won't be winning any awards for academic rigor!  But it's a quick fun project, all right?  (Don't look at me like that!  I can do quick!  I can make something without overmaking it!  I can-- Oh, shut-up.)

Starting with my Pinterest page, I make the following observations:

• Every single extant dress I can find has the fullness of the skirt coming from gathers, not pleats. 
• There's a variety of material used in the 1920's: the stiffer tafetta dresses stand out at the hips on their own, but the light chiffon ones have panniers. 
• The panniers were obviously a feature: lots of the chiffon dresses are see-through with the paniers showing!  A slimmer shift underneath preserves modesty. 
• length varied from long trains for court presentations to knee length for the young and/or daring. 
• Sleeves and min-capes were options, but the majority seem to be sleeveless.  (The majority on Pinterest, anyway.  There's a selection bias, there.)
  
• Many designers played with sheer elements, like lace, chiffon, or net. 
• There are two sub-categories to this silhouette--I'll call them the horizontal and the diagonal. 
  • The horizontal silhouette has lots of horizontal line details, like straight-across necklines, waistbands, and hems.  It makes the wearer look wider and little-girlish.  This Lanvin one from 1922 is a good example (and can we take a moment to admire the little gathers in the side seam that allow the bust area some fullness without a dart? Clever!).  This one by Doucet (1923) is particularly hideous. 
  • The diagonal silhouette often uses a V-neck (I love this one!), criss-cross details, or petal-like layers at the hips to create a more hour-glass look, despite the unbalanced oddness of the whole.  I think the diagonal silhouette is more flattering. 
    

FABRIC IDEAS

Since I'm trying to whip something up quickly, I want to work from stash.  I figure that a stiffer fabric will hold the poofy skirt out more easily as well as disguising somewhat the skeletal lines of the panniers.  So the white polyester satin I have from a wedding dress might be a good base.  But I don't want a white dress, so maybe I can over-lay it with some marvelous ombre-dyed silk sari fabric I have (yay thrift stores!).  Then it would be a beaded green and gold dress.

Autumn 2017 Sewing List

• My brother's Aloha shirt(s) -- still half-done
• A bustier based on Butterick 5797 -- DONE!  Will post on October 12th
• Skeleton leaf blazer -- not started yet.
• Robe de style -- just added to list.  In the research and idea-gathering stage. 
  

(And yes, I know I promised an update on the Ahsoka Tano project diary... it's written, but not integrated with its photographs yet.  I'm running late, but real life priorities eclipsed computer time this week.  It'll come soon!)