Romantic ballets have always been my favorite, the port de bras and long tutus are so beautiful. I often play Giselle in the background when I sew. When I found this illustration of Taglioni (made in 1845) as the Sylph I wanted to recreate it. The Thursday night event at Costume College had a theme of "Into the Goblin's Lair." I know, my first thought was" yes! This is my year!" since I had already planned to make Sarah's ballgown for the Gala. Then I realized, oh no, I was making Sarah for the gala. What will I do about Thursday?? So close yet so not. When I stumbled upon the print of Taglioni I found the perfect Thursday outfit. The idea of doing a historically accurate costume was enticing. As usual, I fooled myself into thinking it wouldn't be that bad. Why I continue to repeat this mistake is beyond me but here we are.
Marie Taglioni stunned audiences in 1832 when she debuted her role in the new ballet Les Sylphides. It was an important moment for many reasons. The first is that it signaled the start of the Romantic ballet era. The second, that she appeared on stage in a white costume, her legs scandalously revealed in what is considered the first tutu. And third, she rose to her toes, the first ballerina to dance en pointe (in pointe shoes).
Two images of Taglioni. Look at that short tutu!
So first the research. I did a lot of research. I found a ton of dance reviews in the 1830-40's with very little description of the costume and many contemporary discussions that said the tutu was silk tulle, voile, or fine stiffened cotton muslin. In the end I opted for the stiffened cotton muslin as that seemed the most logical. The reviews revered Taglioni as being ethereal and floating through the air in her skirts. I purchased 8 yards of light cotton and silk blend voile, 12 yards of sheer cotton voile, 2 yards of white satin for the bodice and satin ribbon in both burnt orange and deep yellow to start with. I also purchased 4 yards of stiff netting, just in case I decided I wanted even more body. The wing construction I will come back to later.
Materials gathered, here we gooooo
The first thing I did was decide on the basic construction of the bodice. Not much is known about Eugene Lami's original design. There are no sketches leading up to the debut and the garment is nowhere to be found. It appears that Lami created a gown based on the current evening style. A low off the shoulder neckline, the waistline at natural waist and a sort of draped gauzy bertha and puff sleeves.
I began with Truly Victorian 455 . What I love is that it comes with both a day and evening version, so I will definitely re-use the pattern.
Illustration from the TV 455 pattern. Here you can see the primary characteristic of 1830 fashion. I knew I would have to modify and get rid of the sleeves, but it was doable.
I cut a mock up out of two layers of cotton, one a cheap quilting cotton and the other much stiffer. This went quickly, I tried it on just to get general idea and as usual, TV didn't let me down. There are some modifications. I lowered the neckline (I ended up doing this twice). I added a much sharper v waist in front, as per the illustration. I did raise the waistline a tiny bit in the back, as I am very short.
Not bad. Neckline needs to be lowered and that v needs to be deeper.
I did most of the main construction on my vintage machine. I had two bodices essentially, one lining and one satin. I did interline the satin as well. When it came to the darts and boning channels, I switched to hand sewing the satin. I put boning channels in the seams and the darts, using the seam allowance to add the boning channels to the satin outer bodice. The lining, as you can see below, had boning channels added though I later lowered them.
I did the lining first and tried on for fit yet again. I wasn't crazy about the neckline so I lowered it again.
Bodice mostly complete
Once the outer bodice was complete, I installed a zipper just for fit purposes. I found this extremely helpful! My dress form is not a 1830s silhouette and I really needed to make sure that the bodice bottom would fit correctly since I knew my skirt would be poofy. Once I was done, I removed the zipper and put in the hook and eye. What I am most pleased about is my narrow satin piping (that isn't even visible now that the outfit is complete). If you recall from my Dickens Ravenclaw, I did not do enough research and used modern piping, which did not give the best results. This time, I used my thin cord and created my own piping with the white satin, attaching to the neckline, armholes and bottom of bodice. It should be noted that I actually laid the lining inside the satin bodice and stay stitched, and then attached the piping around. In this manner, the lining and satin were attached. I did not do this to the bottom of the bodice. I wanted to wait until the skirts were on so I could enclose them within.
Fit not bad, narrow piping is in on neckline!
At this point, it was time to add the draping to the bodice. I also realized that I had a choice to make about the Sylph. I was trying to stay as historically accurate as possible yet I wanted to recreate the illustration. One would have to give. I decided to stay as historically accurate as possible until I could not recreate the silhouette. My draping ended up looking like a later bertha but I do believe I was successful in the recreation. I think this is something I will struggle with in everything I make. There are some people who are dedicated to being as historically accurate as possible and I love to see their creations. I think most of the time I er on the side of accurate-ish, trying to use the right materials and methods but sometimes I do change things in order to get the final look I am after. In this case, I was after a garment that there are no known examples of. It most certainly was not an exact 1830's evening dress but it wasn't something radically different on top either. Once I made peace with the fact some alterations had to be made, I went ahead and draped my sheer voile on the bodice.
And it was almost perfect! I managed to get rid of those wrinkles above the point fairly easily shortly after the try on.
I was so thrilled with how the bodice looked I took a good two week break. I was also avoiding the skirt because I had never really starched anything and the thought was terrifying. I finally decided to go ahead and start. 1830's gowns have the skirts attached to the bodice. First, my outer layer, a gorgeous silk and cotton blend voile. I used 8 yards finely gathered by hand.
Huzzah, first skirt layer and look at that piping
The rest of skirt I constructed on the lining base. My lining of a stiffer 100% cotton had three layers of fine cotton voile. Each layer was gathered by hand then attached to the lining 1/2 from the top edge, one right on top of the other. In this manner, my waistline would remain smooth yet I'd get the necessary poof needed from the layers. I then attached just the cotton lining to the waistline, making sure the voile layers butted up to the seamline.
And with that, the main construction was complete! The bones of the Sylph came together and I tried everything on. The next step would be the floral details, the hook and eye installation and the wings. I did lose steam at this point. I had been going going going. The francaise, then the Italian and now the Sylph. I took a little break and then tackled the rest, which will be my next blog entry!
Sylph on form, looking very much like Cinderella
I did indeed feel like a Romantic Era ballerina. Or a 1950's bride.
I achieved my desired silhouette and even did a petite allegro just to make sure!
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