Blue Ruffle skirt and Embroidery

Worn with my 1910's blouse and bustle skirt.

My apologies for not posting this sooner. It has been a very busy weekend. Myself and a few of my family went down to the Living History show in Kalamazoo this Saturday. I could have stayed for hours looking at all the interesting things people were selling, but we had to get back to town for something. I was mainly looking for a cameo brooch to wear with my Civil War dress (and possibly my bustle dress), but I ended up buying a lot more. I did get a brooch and some stockings to wear with my dresses. I bought the stockings because I only have colored socks, so I needed a period-correct alternative. I also bought a lovely olive green silk scarf and a hair pin. :) It was very interesting seeing all the costumes and I already can't wait for next year!


On to the main post. For my little sister's birthday I made her a ruffled skirt out of blue fabrics left over from a quilt. I originally imagined it to be slightly ruffle-y (ending around 90 inches), but it ended up being 218 inches around the bottom, which is even bigger than my hoop skirt! She says it isn't too ruffled though, so it's all good. :) Is there even such a thing as too ruffled? It looks gorgeous when she twirls.

I started at the top, ruffled a strip and sewed it on to the waistband. Ruffle, sew, repeat. The ruffles were 4 inches in width except for the last, which was 6 and 1/2, simply because I didn't think the original 4 inch ruffle looked long enough. I used the 13 inches of fabric I had left to make it a bit wider.

And on another note, I tried my hand at embroidery a few weeks ago. This being my first time, I think I did pretty well. I also tried embroidering a rose bud, but it didn't turn out well at all, so I didn't take a picture of it.

The fabric I used was from the scrap box. It puckered quite a bit, but I think that it was A. because I can't find my embroidery hoop, and B. because the fabric has quite a stretch to it. I've come to the conclusion that we need more natural colors for embroidering flowers. :)

"Women Will Never Be Great Until They Wear More Clothes"

I found this article from 1917 and thought it still rings true today.

“Women never will be great until they quit giving so much attention to clothes.” Who says so? Ethel Leginska.

The famous pianist has eschewed the evening gown, and now wears a blouse and skirt in public. This makes a striking combination with her pianist head of hair, which she wore bobbed before ever that style became the fashion in the movies and Bohemia.

“Men wear practically a uniform,” says Leginska. “Why shouldn’t women?”

“What is clothing, except something to keep you warm? Modern women’s clothes don’t even do that. Women make themselves almost naked to attract men.

“Their dress, or lack of it, is killing women in New York today. I know of society girls who have died recently of nothing but exposure caused by insufficient clothing.”

Kind of sounds like now, doesn't it? Except for the part about dying from exposure. :) I wish I could see what they considered "naked." Somehow, I think it would still be more covering than what girls wear at the beach today...

Here's the original article, if you're interested:

Modesty

Last week was the dance at the high school. As usual, people were posting about it all over Facebook the day before. When I saw that there was going to be a ball, quite honestly, the first thought that came into my head was "Oh great. Here come the skimpy dress pictures!"

It's sad how immodest most girls dress now days. In one picture I saw last summer on Facebook there was a group of ten girls in their prom dresses. Guess how many of their dresses were floor length? None. How many were knee length or below? None again. How many were even at the knee? Still none! Every single dress was above their knees. Four of the dresses were strapless, and every one of them were sleeveless. 

I don't see how you can feel comfortable in a dress like that. You would have to be so careful when you sit so you don't expose something. A lot of the time when I see girls wearing dresses like that, when they stand up (or sit down) they pull on their dresses to re-adjust them. If your dress is so short you have to pull it down when you stand up, it's too short. Same goes for how low they are in front. You wouldn't be able to lean over without once again showing something that the world shouldn't see. Not to mention you would be cold any time the slightest breeze came along.

Doesn't this look more elegant...

...than this?

If you expose that much of your body, men will want you for your body. If you cover that up, they will be able to look past your flesh and like you for who you are inside. Eventually, everyone's looks change. Also, if your dress comes to your knees or below, your legs are nicely accented, as well as whichever cute shoes you chose to wear. If your dress is above your knee, the only thing people will ever focus on are your ugly knees. (Because, seriously, does anyone have nice-looking knees?)

It is possible to find modest dresses. You just have to look harder. One of my favorite places to go dress shopping is Goodwill. All the ones near us have a nice selection of dresses. Yes, there are some dresses that are still too high for me to be comfortable wearing, but there are quite a few other ones as well. Plus, the prices can't be beat! :) There are quite a few online dress stores that have nice selections as well, such as Mikarose.com, ShabbyApple.com, and DownEastBasics.com. (Not to mention sewing your own dresses, but that's a whole other post.)

The first thing I noticed about this picture was her dress, then her necklace, then her hair, not her exposed skin!

A well fitted dress will do wonders for you, making you look and feel like a princess. Not to mention it is just plain fun to wear a swirling skirt that billows when you twirl. Ever notice that Cinderella didn't wear a skin-tight, sleeveless, knee-length dress? Take a look at a picture of the Disney princesses. They all look so elegant and lady-like in their floor and ankle length dresses. I don't mean to say you have to wrap yourself up in cloth until you look like a mummy, just wear enough to cover yourself. You can be modest and still look pretty. Modestly is very becoming, no matter what your age.

So, girls. I have a challenge for you. Next time you are going to dress up, whether it be for a prom, a wedding, or just going to church on Sunday, actually try to find a modest dress to wear. Go out of your way a little bit. I think you'll find that you just like wearing them.