Atelier Lily Absinthe

From the Atelier – A Paisley Tea Gown

/ Adam Lid / Leave a comment

In a previous post, we looked at a paisley house dress/tea gown from the mid-1890s and noted that the paisley shawls that were a staple of 1850s-60s fashion would up being re-purposed into dresses during the 1870s, 80s, and even 90s. Here’s one such example with this c. 1885-89 tea gown.

Tea Gown, c. 1885-1889; Kent State University Museum; 1995.017.0016

Although the design makes it look like there’s a robe over a separate under-dress, it’s really all a one-piece construction.

And the back is pretty incredible:

Of course, without physically inspecting it, it’s difficult to tell how exactly the paisley shawl might have been incorporated (or if a shawl was actually used versus yardage) but it is somewhat logical given the extensive use of a solid color as an underlayer. The investigation continues… 😎

Good Morning from No. 11

/ Karin McKechnie-Lid / Leave a comment

Good morning! It’s Sunday in Tombstone and today is the big finale of weekend- more details on that soon…in the meantime, here’s a few pictures from yesterday.

Yes, it was definitely red dress day!

A Day in Tombstone…

/ Karin McKechnie-Lid / Leave a comment

We finally made it into town and had a nice walkabout…it was nothing dramatic but it allowed us to wear some of our clothes. And yes, today I opted to wear the red dress!

From the Atelier – Our Design Philosophy

/ Karin McKechnie-Lid / Leave a comment

Our passion to help set the standard for reproducing late 19th Century garments begins with an understanding of all the details found in original/extant garments. Often, when we look at reproduction garments (film, reenactment, old time dress-up), we notice that they often repeat the mistakes found in tired, mass-produced reproduction patterns. To us, the only true way of recreating late 19th Century garments are by starting with an examination of original/extant garments. All our designs are based on originals garments and probably 80% of those specific designs are based on extant garments in our collection; if you view our social media (Facebook, Instagram), you will see our designs next to the originals that inspired them.

Side-by-side comparison. Now, bear in mind that our designs are not always line-for-line reproductions but rather we use various period design elements and combine them to create more of “inspired-by” creations.

This is the heart of the patterning/design operation- pattern pieces are checked by placing on a mannequin as well as “walking” the pieces and truing up the edges. Yes, this takes time and effort but it avoids mistakes and saves a lot of time and eliminates a lot of grief in the end. Trust us… In future posts, we’ll have more on our design philosophy.

Good Morning from No. 11

/ Karin McKechnie-Lid / Leave a comment

Good morning from No. 11! Friday was a pretty uneventful day and we spent it in regular clothes, catching up with various household choses and a shipping run to Sierra Vista. Pretty boring stuff! As of late Friday, there weren’t a lot of people in town, at least now the way it was when we first started coming here in 2002 (we bought No. 11 in 2003). Back then, the event “Rendezvous of the Gunfighters” was held and it was quite the event, attracting just about every Old West-themed reenactor group in the Southwest. Getting a hotel room was impossible (unless you booked up way in advance) and there were lines running out of every bar and restaurant. It was quite the spectacle, to be sure.

Unfortunately, time, the Great Recession, and changing life circumstances slowly put an end to this and now, most of the visitors are the more “normal” sort of tourists. The event itself has gone through a number of name changes and such so things are on a smaller scale than they used to be. There’s still gunfighters…just fewer of them. For us, thing really haven’t changed much except that No. 11 has gone through a number of transitions and improvements and it’s better than ever and we’re hear on a regular basis, whether it’s for an event or a non-event weekend.

Just for perspective, here’s a picture of the living room at No. 11 not long after we bought the house:

And after…

OK,  we went a little nuts with the pictures but you get the idea…it’s been an interesting, sometimes bumpy trip but 22 years later we’re still going strong and we have a lot of plans for the future to include another film so stay turned for more.