Fancy dress up in town tonight…going over all the skirt’s stress points so I don’t leave a trail of antique metal bits and crystals. 🙂
Checking the undersewing on all these pleats on this 1878 beauty♡
Victorian Dress
Lawmen, Madams and Those Who Are Going to Show Them How It’s Done…
We have been in the costume game our entire adult lives, and believe us, we’ve seen it all. One of the oft-repeated phrases we hear from people who are new to the genre is the passionate cry of “We’re going to show them how it’s done!”
We do appreciate their enthusiasm and passion, however costume interpretation is subjective and history is always redefining itself. Here in Tombstone, specifically in the gunfighter genre (yes, crime has a name) the concept of transformation applies here. Here, any adult can strap on a pistol, wear shiny clothes and become a “lawman”, “cowboy”, or just plain “outlaw”. And on the female side, it seems that every woman becomes a madam in a bright red shiny  dress.
While we can appreciate the joy in someone time traveling to the 1880s, what we do find disconcerting is the selfish cry of “We’re going to show them how it’s done!” Generally this is said by visiting troupes of the gunfighter genre, fueled for competition to see who can be the biggest, baddest, and most wicked gunfighter or madam in competition.
For many gunfighter groups, being able to perform in Tombstone has taken on the status of a holy pilgrimage to the point where each considers their particular performance to be the “one true gunfight.” Over the years, the City of Tombstone has been host to many gunfighter groups and there have been many excellent performances given.
Unfortunately, some of the groups’ manners leave a bit to be desired. We have seen groups berate the announcer, event organizers, and even the town in general over perceived grievances both big and small ranging from a simple mistake in announcing the group’s name to when their performance was to be scheduled. The gunfight events held in Tombstone are organized by volunteers and mistakes are bound to happen, that’s just the nature of the beast.
Worse, are some groups’ after-hours manners. We have witnessed many an alcohol-fueled tirade on Allen Street over the years, none which there was any call for. This does not bring credit to the group in question nor the event. In fact, such rude actions only fuel some Tombstone residents’ desire to eliminate the events all together (many outsiders seem to regard Tombstone as some sort of Western-themed amusement park like Disneyland rather than a functioning town with real people).
So for all you gunfighters and madams, if you are going to reenact law-breaking activities, please show some respect for the town and its citizens for giving you the opportunity to perform. They do not have to permit this- it is a privilege, not a right.
In the end, nobody can show anyone “How it was done” since none of us were there in Tombstone in October 1881. Only the Earps, Clantons, and McLaurys can do that. 🙂
The Power of Color, Texture, and Light
Successful garment design is a combination of several elements: design, fit, fabric, texture, and luster (i.e., shine). We here at Lily Absinthe propose to add one more to the above: suitability for a given place and time. The elements (indoor/outdoor) affect the appearance of the garment. Some fabrics were never meant to be viewed in natural light, they were meant to be seen in a ballroom or other indoor venue that is lite with either candle, gas, or electric light.
When one transgresses these boundaries, the end result give a harsh and unnatural result. For example, shiny satins worn in the noonday sun only serve to look harsh and glaring; the end result is a visual effect that  is the equivalent of running one’s nails across a chalkboard. However, this same fabric when shown to its full advantage indoors looks rich and beautiful, if not luxurious.
Below are two examples of different fabrics and their appearance:
The above dress is meant to be seen in natural light. Matte, sheer cotton layers create non-reflective surfaces that absorb sunlight, not reflect it.
Dana Delany from Tombstone.
In contrast to the first dress, this dress is meant to be seen under artificial light. It is rich and highly reflective, utilizing the available light to its full advantage (note, lighting of the late 19th Century is much more dim than what we are used to today). However, in sunlight it would look like cheap tinfoil.
Saloon girls from What Have I Done.
Here is an example of when the rule is intentionally broken showing the harshness of the shiney reflective fabrics in the noonday desert sun.
Meryl Streep from Out of Africa.
Above is another example of color at work. Here the colors of the outfit are matte and remain muted in the harsh sunlight and brilliant foliage of Kenya.
Whether designing for a  production or simply making something for yourself, one must be mindful of the interaction between light and fabric.
A Little Late Night Re-Design Work…
I’ll be working here in peace for the next two days, creating new, refashioning old, and enjoying the monsoony thunder. This old house really brings out my creativity. <3
Usually, when I have a dress that just doesn’t work out for me, I either put it in the the studio rental collection or sell it. But this dress deserves a second chance: it’s made of three different dyed-to-match pieces of silk. All the flowers and lace are hand embroidered and the suite of lace are all antique originals and I can’t bear to let them go. I didn’t like how I photographed in the dress and I feel that I would better in shorter (evening) sleeves. Because of its intense color (which was the height of fashion in the 1870s with the development of aniline dyes) the dress never photographed well and looked flat even though it’s a three-dimensional object. With digital photography, the color is so intense that it vibrates/moires (i.e. shimmers). In order to give the dress more dimension on film, some other colors need to be introduced into the embroidery along with a few more textures. By doing so, this should reduce the vibrating effect.
Below are pictures of the dress both in color and black and white:
Notice in the above picture that the details are blurred- this NOT because of the camera being out of focus or some other malfunction.
In the above two black and white pictures, note how the details of the dress now stand out. It is my goal to make the dress stand up to film and not vibrate by color balance.
Here are some more “before pictures” taken in our Tombstone studio. The color in these pictures is not true, they are actually much more bright:
It is my plan to replace the current sleeves with shorter (evening) sleeves so that the emphasis will be more at the shoulder as opposed to the arm. As a note, during the late 19th Century, people would often order two sets of sleeves, the first being a more full set of dinner/reception sleeves and the second being a shorter set for balls. Dresses were expensive and having two sets of sleeves was a practical money-saving measure.
I will update you as I progress with this project.
Getting Ready….
Here’s a little something to start things out- this was taken at the Allen Street Cemetery. This is a functioning cemetery and reading the grave markers is a really sobering experience.
