From the Atelier – What’s On…

Fall is definitely here, even in Southern California and that means the heat has backed off, the days are growing shorter, and the light is definitely different. It also means that we’re working on more projects (no swimming pool to distract us). For me, I’ve been going back and forth between a Mid-1880s dress and a men’s suit. I’ve been pretty bad with the progress pictures but here’s a couple from my work on the suit pants.

Chalking out some lining pieces…

And finished the right and left pocket layouts…they’re quire elaborate. Now to mount them to the right and left front pant pieces… 🙂 And here’s some pictures of the work I did on the vest…

The vest lapels. Lots of pad stitching going on and it will only get worse with the coat. The outcome is really nice but it really takes a toll on my fingers.

Right front side of the vest. There’s more to follow and I’ll try to get some more pictures so everything is a but more coherent. 🙂


Something New in Menswear (For me, at least)

 

During my last trip to Tombstone, I decided to try something different with my new suit- French cuffs! Yes, French cuffs! Essentially, French cuffs require dedicated cufflinks and they can only really be worn buttoned up- no casual unbuttoning the cuffs and rolling them up and because of this, they have become out of favor with the today’s more casual styles. However, in the late 19th Century, they were more of a thing. Just a little backstory, I ordered two shirts from a fairly well-known maker and somehow my order got confused and when I received them (after almost 18 months), I discovered that they’d been made with French cuffs. Initially, I just put them at the back of the closet and forgot about them…but later, I rediscovered them while re-arranging my closet and I got the idea of finally wearing them.

Don’t mind the stray thread!

Attaching the cufflink can be somewhat challenging in that you have to work it through four thick layers of fabric… 😁

Don’t mind the stray thread there… 🙂

The inside of the cufflink. It’s a pretty simple design. And the actual cufflinks:

Unlike more modern versions, earlier cufflinks tended to have a more simple design for attachment. This is a pair of very simple vintage 1890s cufflinks that I got off ebay:

I like simple designs. Here’s a view of the short-front:

It turned out that I also needed button studs for the front- thankfully, I had some that I usually use when I wear my tails. 😁 And now, the final package:


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Back to LA!

Being a full-time Victorian is exhausting, it’s been a few days filled with dress up videos, interviews and stills. Back to LA tomorrow! 😃

New For 2022!

First job finished in 2022, a silk brocade smoking jacket for Adam…perfect gentleman’s wear for the parlor at No.11 in Tombstone. 😁

The fabric is a wonderful silk brocade that we bought on our trip to England last October.

Here’s some more construction pictures:


In Progress

One of our latest projects is a men’s smoking jacket. These were loose-fitting lounge jackets that were intended for wear at home, often while smoking (hence the name). Depending on cut, these were a looser-fitting version of the conventional sack coat (although often they looked more like glorified bathrobes). Below are a few progress pictures:

Sewing in the front pockets:

Finished exterior- front right piece.

Pad-stitching and taping the canvases on the left front piece:

And then the right front piece:

There’s definitely a lot of hand-stitching going on there. Just the pad stitching and taping alone took four days…but the end result will be worth it. Stay tuned for more! 😁