Pretty much the only thing that’s going right in my life right now is costuming, so I’m dreaming of a robe a la francaise to try and keep from freaking out about everything else.
What’s making this complicated for me is that I’m not one for ruffles and floof– it’s just not me! And I find that that seems to be the one overarching factor in how historical costumers trim and decorate a francaise.
Interestingly, while there is a lot of self-trim and ruffles on extant pieces, I don’t find them as “floofy.” No idea why.
Some of you may remember that I have 7 yards of this stuff for the purposes of francaise-ing:
What I want to do is to carefully arrange my pattern pieces so that the flowers grow up from the hem but the rest of it is just the solid pink background. But everything else? No clue. I know I don’t want the traditional serpentine pinked trim on the edge of the skirt fronts.
I love the sleeve flounces from this dress from Outlander:
They’re just so graceful, I think it’s fantastic. I was thinking about maybe making some hand-embroidered net for the engageantes but maybe not.
I decided yesterday that I want to make a contrasting petticoat/stomacher out of a different fabric, probably in a similar pink. I ordered some samples from Mood (along with 3.5 yards of burgundy lamé for a 40’s cocktail dress) but now I’m not sure I want more pink? But what else does with baby pink? I guess cream is an option– light blue feels like too much of a contrast– maybe a gold? I don’t know.
I also want to decorate the petticoat/stomacher somehow, but how? Ribbon embroidery? Sequins? Poufs of net? Goldwork? I haven’t seen anything that I love yet, but I’m going to keep digging.
Anything to keep the anxiety down.
Not Another Costuming Blog 