MoDiP - Museum of Deisgn in Plastics

Everyone on the 19th Century project have been really lucky to get the opportunity to see all the 19th Century costumes and accessories that the MoDiP have. 

This was a great opportunity to get some white gloves on and have a look at some authentic 19th century garments.


It was very interesting to have a look at all the garments. I felt that I learnt a lot about the way that they were constructed as well as the way that the garments where fixed. You could see where the bodices had riped because the seams had been placed under strain, and see where patches of the same fabric might have been added a lot later because of the difference in colour. 

I learnt about the way there where worn as well, for example one dress that was made of a light weight cotton and might have been a middle class workers dress, the fabric was thinned and the dye on the dress faded at the knees. 

Even though I am not making any hats I found it interesting seeing all the hats from the 19th century. I feel that it is important to look at the entire look of a costume even if only making part of it because it must fit into a whole outfit. 

Please see below for images taken of the costumes:

 

Unfortunatly this hat has started to desintergrate on the inside. I found it really interesting to look at how the hat had been made and because it was desintergrating it allowed myself to look at the inside making of the hat.

I learnt alot from this particluar bodice and skirt. The garments are very simluar to a dress that i have been thinking about making for this project. 

It was very interesting to look at all the ware marks, the elbows had faded ever so slightly. as well as the dress shields that have been tanted over the times it has been warn.

There was a small cut into the button stand on the left hand side of the dress. We did not know why this is. we beileved that they way it had been fixed might be due to a rip that has been quickly fixed, but unfortunatly we do not know for sure. This is one thing that i would like to find out.

It was really interesting to look at this dress because extra squares of fabric have been added to the dress where holes have been made,. It really interested me that the woman who owned this working dress owned a few pieces of the origional fabric that has been added at a later date so that the extra squares are a slightly different tones,

This blouse is of the late 19th century. This blouse was really intereting to look at becuase I am thinking about creating a piece from this later date. I didnt think that boning was placed in the large stomock 'S' shaped blouses. This is something that I will keep in mind when talking about the finishing my toile.

This dress was also very interesting to look at. Apon studies of the back of the dress i noticed that the box pleats where uneven, this could have been because of the pockets that were built into the skirt, but the extra pleat has been placed on the oposite side to the pocket. This makes me think that maybe the woman who owned this dress might have been slightly out of poportion around the hips.