Tutorial: Steampunk-friendly millinery flowers

Japanese hana kanzashi flowers turned into
Steampunk-friendly millinery flowers!

I've taken a bit of a detour from my Victorian and 1912 day dresses and started to flesh out an idea I had for a Steampunk hat trim.  I usually don't make my own hat trims -- heck, I have trouble using pre-made trim and silk flowers on my hats -- because I just don't have the right kind of imagination to come up with something that looks good.  A few years ago I was at Costume Academy -- a one-day costume conference put on by the Greater Bay Area Costumer's Guild -- and ended up taking a class on hana kanzashi, or the delicate, elaborate flower-bedecked hairpins and headdresses that Japanese geishas wear. Making them involves doing origami with tweezers and 1/2 inch squares of hand-painted China silk ribbon to make the individual flower petals, and is very time-consuming and fiddly.  I didn't really know how I would ever use the information, but because I was getting ready to help with the costumes for a production of Gilbert & Sullivan's Mikado, I thought it might come in handy for making headdresses for the women in the cast.  While I didn't end up making any headdresses at that time, I did start thinking about how to alter the design and production for theater costume purposes.  I ended up with cool Steampunk propeller-flowers for my hat (which I don't have yet, but that's another story)!

Titanic Survivors' Reunion Picnic and Commemoration

"Wild Blue Yonder" rose

We had a lovely time at the Rose Garden on Saturday.  A small group of us gathered at a shady picnic table and enjoyed a menu inspired by the "Last Dinner on the Titanic" menu, as well as some recipes from Mrs. Rorer's cookbook from 1912.  Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the table or the food, but you can imagine from the menu:

Ginger Ale and Tea Punch
Iced Black Tea

Cucumber, Mint and Cream Cheese Sandwiches

view of the Rose Garden

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Sandwiches
Creole Sandwiches (cream cheese, cheddar, tomato, and sweet pepper)
Stone-ground Wheat Crackers (standing in for the Cabin Biscuits from the Titanic menu)

Fresh Strawberries
Fresh Cherries
Coconut Cake
Coconut Lemon Sandwich Cookies

I wore my partially-restored antique lingerie blouse, with my walking skirt made from Sense & Sensibility's Beatrix Potter pattern.  It actually has a higher waistline, more in line with 1912 fashions, but because of the drape of the blouse, and the fact that my ribbon belt slid down to my natural waist, you can't tell from the photos.  I'll have to put it on again and take better photos of the line of the skirt.

"Europeana" roses

My friend Sara also wore a vintage dress; she actually took a vintage nightgown, made a slip out of vintage fabric to wear underneath, and wore it as a summer day dress with a vintage hat and parasol!  When I get the photos from the other ladies who were present, I'll post them.

It was extra fun because Saturday was Senior Prom for the local high schools, and there were a bunch of young ladies and gentlemen in evening dress, taking photos in the garden!  

"Indian Summer" is here!

image from AntiqueClipArt.com 

How did the Victorians survive hot weather, wearing 3 or more layers of clothing year-round?  They had their ways, which are just as helpful now as in 1852.  Unsurprisingly, Godey's Lady's Book has suggestions that are useful for this time of year.  Here is one tip for making cut flowers last longer:

“To Preserve Flowers in Water.—Mix a little carbonate of soda with the water, and it will preserve the flowers for a fortnight.”

May Day and spring traditions in the Victorian era.

Primroses.  Photo: Nikolay Dimitrov.

The Victorian era is famous for its nostalgia and love of sentimental customs. Many Victorian traditions have roots going back hundreds of years, often including veiled references to Medieval Celtic folklore and pagan deities.  In the Victorian era, May Day, or May 1, was the middle of spring, and was marked with a fair, parade, dances, and lots of floral decorations.  The traditional celebrations often began with “bringing in the May”, which involved getting up very early in the morning on May Day, and going into the country to pick flowers to decorate the town with, as well as make preparations for the parade and other festivities.  Women were also said to bathe their faces with dew from the grass and flowers on May morning, to preserve their beauty. 

Cowslips.  Photo: Nickolay Dimitrov.

Another Victorian spring activity: making potpourri.

Violets.  Photo: Nikolay Dimitrov.

This is from the February 1860 issue of Godey's Lady's Book:

"A pot pourri, as it is called, if properly made up, forms an elegant and beautiful perfume, though it costs some months to complete.  You should begin it while the violets are in bloom, as they add greatly to its excellence.  There are, however, plenty of flowers that are available.  Get a china jar four or six inches deep, with cover.  Prepare layers of damask and other sweet-scented rose-leaves and buds, also layers of orange-flowers, if you can obtain them, jessamine, lavender-flowers, clove-pinks, sweet-scented stocks, marjoram, orange-mint, lemon-thyme, balm of Gilead, and rosemary.  Have some orris-root sliced, and the outer part of the rind of Seville oranges.  Have also a few cloves reduced to powder, and small quantities of benjamin, storax, and musk, and some bay salt, all in fine powder.  Mix the powders and the salt well together; then put a layer of leaves, as you collect them, into your jar, sprinkling each layer with a portion of the powders, and so proceed till your jar is nearly full;  stir all together now and then, press firmly down, and cover close.  When the cover is taken off in a warm room, a very agreeable scent will be diffused." 

Carnations, or Clove-pinks.