Not a costume...

...instead, a nephew!

Azad Ahluwalia Gohn, born Saturday, October 22, 2011

Downton Fever

I'm finally catching up season 2 of Downton Abbey now that a friend has directed me to website that streams it (I won't give away my sources here, but if you want to know, feel free to send me a message on facebook). In fact, I decided to do this blog post because I used up my 72 minutes of streaming and I have to be patient for an hour - I am not good at that.

I'm very excited that season 2 is set two years after the end of season 1, as WWI is one of my (many) favorite costume eras. I feel like it's often overlooked as it was just a few short years occuring between the famous Edwardian Period and the Roaring Twenties. The Lavinia Swire has worn some of my favorite gowns, with the waistline dropped back to the natural waistline from the early teens and fuller skirts - the Crawley sisters still seem to be wearing the slimmer late Edwardian styles. Unfortunately, I could find any images of these online, but here are a couple similar styles from the pinterest boards:

c. 1915 dress

c. 1915 dress, Cincinnati Art Museum

Man, that's gorgeous. So, have you caught Downton fever? If you have, is the second season living up to your expectations? (I know that this is opening Pandora's Box, but I must ask) Are you on Team Mary or Team Edith? I have the less popular stance of pro-Edith.

In unrelated news, my sister-in-law is currently giving birth, so this blog will feature some baby pictures soon!

UPDATE: Here's an email from my brother: "Azad Ahluwalia Gohn was born at 2:35am on Saturday, 7 pounds 11 ounces, 20-3/4" long. Mom and baby are both healthy and doing well, and mom and dad are endlessly happy. Photos to come in a few days." YAY!!

Funny Face

If you ever need some fifties fashion inspiration, may I recommend "Funny Face."

Les Poupees des Modes

Here's an interesting tidbit of information from Caroline Weber's "Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution":

"To showcase their wares, the fashion purveyors often relied on jointed wooden or plaster poupees des modes, or "fashion dolls" - precursors to both the store mannequin and the runway model - outfitted in doll-sized versions of the latest Parisian styles. Commonly known as Pandoras ("little Pandora" modeled morning and informal garb, while "big Pandora" was draped in ceremonial and evening wear).... According to historian Daniel Roache, 'in times of war, the poupees enjoyed diplomatic immunity and were even given cavalry escorts to ensure their safe arrival.'"

NB: There is an acute accent on the first "e" in "poupee" (I lack the techincal know-how to get blogger to do this for me.)

Gloves part 6

I've finally managed to get my act together and retake the pictures of the last pairs of the gloves that I lost previously. At least one of these pairs belonged to my mother before she was married (the ones with K. Krafft written on the inside). There is another pair with just "Gohn" written on the inside, which could belong to my mother after she was married, but she was only married in 1988 (and the 80's and 90's are not known for glove-wearing), and I believe the gloves are too small for my mom's hands, so they're probably my paternal grandmother's, Lucille Gohn (aka "Mammaw").

This knit pair definitely belonged to my mother.

For embellishment the seams from the outside of the index finger and pinkie continue down the length of the glove.

There is a seam in each gusset with the allowances turned in, while the allowances of the gussets are turned out.

You guys know what to expect now; this glove is pretty basic.

Detail of the scalloping

This knit pair probably belonged to my paternal grandmother.

It seems to have gotton pretty dirty on the left hand.

It looks like the original seam in the gussets ripped and was later mended by hand.

I think that this pair is so cute with its embroidery and scalloped edge.