Jane Austen Evening 2011 - Menswear Recap

The men pulled out all the stops this year at the annual Jane Austen Evening! The ladies looked lovely, as always, but I thought the men really stepped it up. I've got a few pictures to share of the dapper men - but I missed quite a few, there were too many good-looking gents!

And first, what you've all been waiting for...drumroll please...

Chris in his suit! Here he's got on his tailcoat, waistcoat, shirt and cravat. You can see the little ventilation hole in the shirt that he insisted on leaving open lest he die from the heat. The 1930's pants were a big hit - lots of men were wearing modern pants, and he even got a few compliments on them.

 The annual meeting of the Tolerant Husbands Society. This Society is also open to any male friends or brothers that one might be able to bribe with cookies.

Look at the fabulous fit on this outfit! You have to be confident to wear it, that's for sure, and he was quite snazzy. I like the shirring at the sleeve cap. 

I snuck a back view - since he was gracious enough to pose for the front, I figured it was okay. :o) 

Another Chris! This gentleman sews his own clothes (maybe sometime I can get mixed up and bring him home instead of mine? Nah, we'd just fight over the ironing board or something). He's the mastermind behind this Royal Naval uniform that I've drooled over many times - I was so excited when I saw him walk by and had to go over to introduce myself!

I got a closeup of his neckcloth, very impressive! Chris said he used rice starch on his cravat, and Lauren realized that he used the Perfect Pleater for his shirt ruffles. I found his post on the rice starch on the Regency Society of America message boards, where he is a frequent poster, and I'm sure would be willing to answer any questions you might post. I'll probably pop over with a few of my own!

 Undoubtedly the cutest young gentleman at the Ball. Look at those stockings!

These next two outfits might be my favorites of the night, for sheer ingenuity. These men were accompanied by lovely ladies who deconstructed and repurposed thrifted suits, and turned them into incredible regency wear. What a great idea! you get all the fun of making cool collars etc, without having to make the icky welt pockets! (And they were quite well-done too - it wasn't until I was told *the secret* that I saw how they were remade!)

Another repurposed Regency suit, and the fine lady who made it. 

Showing where she pieced the tailcoat together - cut a little off the front, add it to the back, and voila!

And here ends my menswear recap...don't worry, I know I still owe you a review of the waistcoat I made, and probably a couple other things... :) If you want to see the tasty cookies from the event, pop over to V is for Vintage and say hi!

W is for Waistcoat

I wasn't joking when I said things were going to slow down around here, was I? :) I've been working away, finishing up all the little odds and ends like buttons, hems, etc., and finishing my gown. I've posted about my dress on my new all-purpose blog, V is for Vintage - so if you're interested, please check it out over there!

A couple nights ago I had Chris put on the whole outfit as a first "dress rehearsal". Remember how I was talking about trousers a couple months ago? They're about halfway finished, and we fit them, but he was feeling a little nervous about wearing them. It's a lot of costume to try out all at once, which I completely understand. We decided that instead of him wearing the new trousers, he'll wear some cream high-waisted 1930's style pants he already has - they're fly-front, and the legs are fairly wide, but so what. (kinda funny that he'll be more comfortable in those kooky pants instead of the other kooky pants, but that's how it is. :)

Now that I'm off the hook for his trousers (for now), I think I have time to slap together a waistcoat. It'll be mostly hidden under his coat and I'm just using random fabric from the stash, so I'm just cutting into it without fitting it first. Funny enough, the only appropriate fabric in my stash was the leftover cream wool from abovementioned 1930's pants, so he will be well-coordinated!

Like the shirt and trousers, I'm using the waistcoat pattern from Kannik's Korner. Once I get all three sewn up, I'll be curious to see how well they all fit together (do the top of the trousers meet the bottom of the waistcoat, etc.)

I'm making View C1. Because that's the most dashing.

During the "dress rehearsal", I had him put on a vest from his closet , and I marked where the front of the tailcoat hit. We both decided that his waistcoast shouldn't be too long (not more than an inch or two longer than the front of his tailcoat), and comparing the pattern to the vest, it will be shorter than the tailcoat. That's fine, so we're leaving it alone. Quick and dirty!

Don't forget to account for seam allowance
if you compare a pattern to a garment!

18th C. Menswear Patterns from LACMA

Reposting this link from the fabulous Two Nerdy History Girls Blog. LACMA has posted free annotated pdf files online of patterns from their new costume collection - similar to the patterns from Tidens Toej, but these have notes in ENGLISH!!

1790's Tailcoat pattern for FREE!

Included are patterns for a men's tailcoat, 2 waistcoats, and a banyan (just learned that term - thanks Lauren!). I'm trying really hard to be happy that they chose all menswear for this project... ;)