Fichues, Mantles, and Hats, Oh My!

[Elizabeth]

Amie, check out the Value Added Events article in the Stumps section of the Compendium:  http://www.elizabethstewartclark.com

There are some great ways to re-organize fashion presentations, to get the most out of them for everyone, and to avoid the pitfalls of the "cattle call."  You can do a great job!

[felicite]

Why, Elizabeth! You say that as if I haven't read all your articles three or four times! *laugh* No, really, I have. When I was offered the position of fashion show coordinator, I think I actually squealed with joy. Finally! No more zippers! I absolutely agree about cattle calls - they're quite horrendous, and there's simply no excuse for mis-educating the public. My dear friend Kimberley has already signed up as my authenticity-hunting assistant, and I'd like to move toward having a file of cards for different people with their name, impression, and details about their outfit listed so I don't miss anything important. I've only done one small fashion show at one small event so far, but I grouped the wash dresses together and explained the higher fashion garments seperately. One 10 year old newcomer was so thrilled to be included that she was wriggling like a puppy!

(This has now completely diverged from the thread subject - you don't have a forum topic for Value-Added events, Elizabeth!)

It was interesting re-reading that Value-Added article because I'm now involved in roughly half of those activities. Kimberley's mother operates a finishing school which is a joy to see - I dressed the hair of two of the young ladies at their Coming Out last May. It's so nice that the young girls around here now have something to do. I'm also organizing a sewing circle to operate in the afternoons at events, for really anyone who's interested. Kimberley will have the reproduction quilt she's working on out waiting for assistance and I'll sell sewing baskets and various little projects for those without something to do. I have a 15 x 14.5' awning, so I should hope I have enough room for people to sit around sewing and to operate a small store! I'm also planning to start running workshops/sewing bees at my house. I am a Value-Added fiend!

[Pam Robles]

I have heard of women who have reworked some of the unblocked hoods on the site. I haven’t seen the results. I can’t imagine the hoods shown could possibly get the height of a high brim or spoon bonnet though.

I use some of her capelines (among others) for my blocked straw bonnets.  The size varies from item to item and the capelines vary from just right to a couple of inches too large and that bit needs to be turned to the inside and on some, it has to be cut after wiring.  For the cheek tabs, they all have to be cut and turned.  You can see the results of a couple of capelines on my site under 50's-60's straw bonnets.  www.victorianbonnets.com .The original block is pictured there, as well.

You or Carolann mentioned the edges being finished with straw on the originals.  That spurred me to dig through my archive again.  I have pics of earlier straws with bound edges and one 60s with a pleated frill on the outer edge of the brim but I can't see how the edge is finished. My pre-70's originals are all fabric, so that's no help.

With braid, adding another layer of braid to cover the wire is easy.  With the woven straw, the only ways I see to cover the cut or too-wide turn-under is with fabric.  A frill on the inner brim works pretty well. 

Still researching and learning,

Pam