Victorian Dress

Folkwear Patterns Now At Atelier Lily Absinthe!

/ Karin McKechnie-Lid / Leave a comment

We’re pleased to announce that we’re now distributors for Folkwear Patterns at Atelier Lily Absinthe! Here’s just a few of our personal favorites:

This pattern has clear, concise, easy to understand directions and construction is very simple with no surprises. This pattern is size-inclusive with sizes range from small through 3XL. Although it’s aimed at the early 1900s, this style will also work for the mid to late 1890s. To order, please go to our Etsy Store.

Edwardian Underthings is one of Folkwear’s earlier patterns, first being published in 1978 (it was one of our first historical patterns at a time when there weren’t many on the market), it’s been updated with inclusive sizing ranging from extra-small to 3XL. This is another pattern with clear instructions and construction is uncomplicated. With camisole, drawers, and petticoat, this is the perfect set to construct a basic set of Edwardian Era undergarments. Also, although it’s primarily focused on the Edwardian Era, it will also work for the late 1890s. To order, please order from our Etsy Store.

And for the men, there’s the Victorian Shirt! This is a basic shirt pattern that will work for the 1870 to 1900 time frame. This pattern is sized for men’s extra-small through extra-large (men’s sizes 30 1/2 through 48). To order, please order from our Etsy Store. These are only a few of our offerings and to see them all, please go to our Etsy Store at  Atelier Lily Absinthe.

Looking Back At 2021

/ Adam Lid / Leave a comment

Looking back at 2021, we have to say overall that it was a year of growth for us as we slowly pull ourselves out of the lingering effects of COVID. Like many businesses, 2020 was a chaotic year and put a brake on the many plans we had. However, we did take the enforced idle time to reassess our goals and priorities and devised a more focused approach to Lily Absinthe.

During 2021, we established Atelier Lily Absinthe on Etsy as an outlet for a variety of finished products ranging from fabrics and pattern to fashion-related books. Originally conceived as a outlet for selling off part of extensive stocks of fabrics and patterns that we’ve accumulated over the years, Atelier Lily Absinthe has evolved into a larger enterprise complementing our business focused around custom commissions. One of the most exciting aspects is our curated approach to our offerings- it’s not a random gathering of “stuff” but rather a focused collection of items intended to enhance the historic clothing experience. The motto “One of a kind, few of a kind” encapsulates everything Atelier Lily Absinthe  is about.

2021 was also good for us in that we were able to spend two weeks in October we had to the opportunity to return to the UK, specifically in the west of England, and reconnect with our friends. 😎

We’re looking forward to 2022 and returning to the UK and hopefully France so stay tuned for more. 😎 😄

Selections From Atelier Lily Absinthe

/ Adam Lid / Leave a comment

We’ve built up a small and select collection of book offerings here at Atelier Lily Absinthe and right now, many are on sale. Besides, fabrics and patterns, reference books are a key aspect in understanding historical clothing. Bellow are just some of our selections:

Drawing on the exquisite collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute, Fashion: A History from the 18th To The 20th Century provides a compact yet comprehensive overview of fashions spanning one of the most active periods in Western fashion styles. The best part is that while this book is comprehensive, it’s sized for easy handling so it’s just the perfect size for quickly looking up things while actively working on a project.

Fabrics are the basic foundation of fashion and when it comes to the Victorian and Edwardian eras, it can be quite bewildering trying to figure out how some of the more obscure fabrics were used. Textiles For Victorian and Edwardian Clothing: 1880-1920 helps to sort things out through the use of historical documentation and swatches of the various fabrics.

For an introductory visual survey of Victorian and Edwardian fashions, we highly recommend Victorian and Edwardian Fashion: A Photographic Survey by Alison Gernsheim.

For a more detailed treatment of Victorian/19th Century Fashion, English Women’s Clothing in the Nineteenth Century by C. Willett Cunnington is a good place to start.

And for a good overview of how high fashion progressed during the mid to late 19th Century, we recommend Victorian Fashions & Costumes from Harper’s Bazar 1867-1898. This has been a constant source of inspiration for many of our designs here at Lily Absinthe.

Finally, for a French view of Victorian and Edwardian fashion, we highly recommend Victorian and Edwardian Fashions from “La Mode Illustrée” by JoAnne Ollan. This too has been a constant source of inspiration for us. Well, there you have it! We have all of these in stock at Atelier Lily Absinthe, ready for shipment today!

And For A Little Pingat

/ Adam Lid / Leave a comment

Emile Pingat’s designs have always been fascinating and especially since he tends to overshadowed by Worth (and Doucet, to a lesser extent). Today, Pingat was mostly noted for his outerwear, but he also designed dresses. Below is an interesting day dress from 1897:

Pingat, Day Dress, 1897; Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.2012.95.123a-b)

This dress consists of a multi-gored skirt combined with an under-bodice all of a patterned woven silk fabric. The over-bodice simulates a capelet and along with the sleeves is constructed from a red silk velvet. The same color silk velvet can also be seen in the chevrons running along the skirt and the belt. The gigot sleeves are relatively subdued for an 1897 style; what is especially interesting about the sleeves is that the sleeve caps open up to reveal insets of woven silk fabric that’s similar to the skirt and under-bodice. Here’s a close-up of the left shoulder:

Here’s a close-up of the fabric used in the inset on the sleeves. The intricate floral cord border is an interesting decorative touch:

And here’s the fabric used on the skirt and under-bodice:

When you look at the overall dress, the eye is immediately drawn to the shoulders and the two insets provide some interesting color pops to the red outer-bodice. On the flip side, one could also argue that the dress is too busy from a design perspective and that the somewhat dramatic design elements should have been scaled back: one or to works well but not everything. But nevertheless, Pingat’s design is imaginative and the upper sleeve inserts is something that’s not normally seen in 1890s style. Stay tuned for more in our never-ending quest for the unique and different in late Nineteenth Century style.

AtelierLilyAbsinthe | Etsy
You searched for: AtelierLilyAbsinthe! Discover the unique items that AtelierLilyAbsinthe creates. At Etsy, we pride ourselves on our global community of sellers. Each Etsy seller helps contribute to a global marketplace of creative goods. By supporting AtelierLilyAbsinthe, you’re supporting a small…

What’s On- Holiday Edition

/ Karin McKechnie-Lid / Leave a comment

It’s been a busy year for us and a time of many changes. If you haven’t noticed, we’ve created an online selling presence on Etsy at Atelier Lily Absinthe where we are selling a variety of fabrics, trims, books, and patterns that have been curated by us. For fabrics, we have a mix of newly-acquired and vintage fabrics from our fabric stash. We will also be offering a variety of historical fashion ephemera that we have acquired over the years. Our motto: One of a kind, few of a kind!  😁

Finally, we’re still taking commissions and we will be offering a line of ready-made garments in the near future. We welcome you inquiries- feel free to email us at info@lilyabsinthe.com

Karin McKechnie & Adam Lid