Some things start unexpectedly…. last January I picked some lovely silk that just screamed Victorian Seaside Bustle frock… And so for the summer I put a few days aside to make it – and to nip somewhere on the coast for … Continue reading
I know quite a lot of people have been expecting the account of our French adventures in Versailles – so here it is. I am afraid it will be a rather a disappointing one, as due to the unforeseen … Continue reading
Well, I thought our previous event at the venue was a blast – but this year it was even better! After a year of preparations, marketing, meetings, sales, dealing with emergencies and unplanned changes, sewing and general organisational madness, … Continue reading
You are a creative person and would like to run a creative business full time. You have read the success stories, you have chatted to friends, and everything looks peachy – so you are leaving your mundane day-job and are … Continue reading
A long overdue post on a rather splendid ball we attended in London, in December. The Buttercup Ball was organized by Stuart Marsden ( the dance master for our Victorian ball last year – and this year’s edition too!) … Continue reading
It is finished at last!!!! I have loved this plate from ‘Harper’s Bazaar’ for years, and planned to make the jacket almost 2 years ago – now am happy to say that it is complete (well, almost…) I got the … Continue reading
Over the last 20 years of sewing for other people this is one of the more often-asked questions – “Why is bespoke more expensive than ready to wear, off-the-peg garments?” And this request accounts for about 80% of the email I am getting nowadays too:
“I saw your off the peg riding habit/gown/corset and I love it – I would like it made bespoke for me, in a different fabric and colour and with more decoration – will the price be the same?”
The reason for the difference in price is simple – as already stated in one of my previous blogs, ( A Queen on a budget, please), nowadays ordering bespoke is very rare thing. People are used to all the cheap, ready made clothing they see in the shops, and even with specialised items such as corsetry and historical clothing, a lot of people do not realise the difference between the ‘off-the-peg’ and ‘bespoke’, especially when made by he same person or company.
So,to make things simpler let us have a look at what you are actually paying for – at least as far as my own merchandise is concerned..
Off the Peg items:
* Fabric
* Labour – a generically sized pattern is used to cut out the fabric, followed by assembly and decoration: the price will depend upon the complexity of the garment and time needed to execute it
*Notions – decorations, buttons, thread, embroidery, etc
*Packing/postage/delivery if required
*My professional expertise, knowledge and experience!
Bespoke items.
packing/postage/delivery if needed
my professional expertise, knowledge and experience.
See the difference? A riding habit that looks the same will take 3 times as long if made bespoke – and that is usually true for every other item.
Above – a bespoke habit worth over £1000 in quality cloth, fittings, handmade and hand applied braiding and an off the peg habit from our online shop – £370
Another thing to consider is the fact that I make off-the-peg garments largely to satisfy my own insane desire to create pretty things – I make them in the size I want, in a fabric I like and have available currently and in a style I feel inclined to – I don’t have to consult a client on what they would like. If I change my mind half way through – that is fine. If I feel tired and don’t fancy pushing myself to finish by a certain deadline – that is fine too. Full creative freedom.
Bespoke work is much more complex, since I have to adhere to the client’s ideas, body type, etc, so it provides quite a different feeling. Taking someone else’s ideas and making a fully functional garment, looking the way they want it too look, and fitting them well is immensely satisfying. All the hours of research, fittings, handstitching etc are worth it not only in terms of the financial reward- the look on the client’s faces when they see themselves in the mirror wearing their new clothing for the first time is a great reward too – and, I won’t lie, I love to see my work worn and admired. The last session when a final outfit is tried on is always stressful – no matter how experienced you are, you are always worried that maybe this button is a tad too tight, or maybe the skirt is 0.5″ too big. Paltry things, easy to sort out within minutes, but irrationally, I still always worry!
But when it all comes together – well, the moment is magic. And I don’t charge for that! 😉
There is a Georgian Festival in Stamford every other year – and this year we were contracted for a couple of jobs there ( thanks to Black Knight Historical).
The festivities lasted 3 full days with lots of lectures, meetings, Georgian market and living history – but our adventure started on Friday night – at the Georgian ball!
We arrived in plenty of time , and were led to a proper theatre style dressing room – and it turned out we were sharing it with Dr. Lucy Worsley, who dropped in for a moment of respite between her talks, book signing and other public duties. We have met before as worked for the Worsley/Starkey documentary in Hampton court the year before, so it wasn’t too awkward. Still, not often do we get to share a dressing room with a celebrity – and I felt a bit overdressed on the occasion 🙂
although, as you can see, we clearly had the same colour scheme in mind 🙂
At the ball we danced, we chatted – and then provided some entertaining background during the buffet break as the folks were queuing for some lovely food – there was chatting, playing cards and some sketching taking place….
After the break ( and after eating rather a lot of left over cake) there was more dancing and frivolities – until it was time to drive back home….
Saturday was a day off, and Sunday we were taking part in the fashion show, so with a day off in between, I decided to make myself a new outfit – just because I have always wanted a jacket, and because i had the fabric for ages!
I made the skirt in a lovely quilted cotton, with a fringe, and then worked the rest of the day on a 1790 pierrot jacket.
I quickly drafted the pattern and then fitted it – mock up first and then playing with the real thing, in silk and linen
Sunday morning saw the jacket finished – but i had a few hours left before we had to make a move. so time to make a new hat! a gigantic one! Not the best of my creations, admittedly, but it did the job.
Then it was packing the gear and setting off.
The fashion show went down a treat – there was a huge variety of costumes, from different decades and different walks of life, and the commentary was super as well… a few behind the scenes shots..
men looking splendid….
I was modelling a 1790 redingote, and Eleanor was wearing her lovely francaise ( more on making it and more pictures in the Georgian Ball post.
Amy fro the Period Costume Shop in a stunning polonaise ( love the fabric!), me in the redingote and Kelly in her anglaise!
some unspeakable and unmentionable things happened too….
After the show, I could change into my new bits and have a stroll around Stamford – and take a few pictures
But I was not exactly happy – I felt the wig did not work very well with the colours of the walking outfit. So when we got back home, I changed wigs and we went on to snatch some autumnal pictures at the local Nature Reserve…. much happier with these!
we even had a go at some heavy machinery….
all together, a cracking weekend was had!
credits:
photography – Lucas from Timelight Photographic
costuming – Prior Attire ( the walking outfit is now available for sale – here)
shoes – American Duchess, naturellment!
A short follow up on my earlier posts, ( part 1 and 2), dealing with running a creative business – not only a costuming one I suppose, but applying to many art- and craft-related business as well.
This point has come up recently, but in quite a few places, and so I though it was worth discussing it here. I have mentioned ‘constant learning’ and pointed out how important it is if you want your business to succeed, but I neglected to mention one important thing:
MISTAKES.
…and believe me, ladies and gentlemen, mistakes are your friend. They show you clearly in which areas you need to improve, they make you aware that there is yet more research to do/ techniques to study, and as a result, you get better! The thing is, everybody makes mistakes- but not everybody learns from them.
I am often asked by folks for an opinion on their creations – and they all ask me for an honest opinion. And an honest opinion I give, highlighting both the points of excellency, and stating what areas could do with some improvement (as a college teacher I have had decades of practice on how to do this, at least now it comes handy for my own business too!); and guessed what? A few folks are happy, a few take the comments on board and apply in their future work, a few listen, thank me and ignore whatever was suggested – and that is all fine. However, quite a significant percentage are angry and actually resort to abuse, (“how dare you criticise my gown! I spent months working on it!” ; “You are just jealous, you must hate my work – all my friends are saying this piece is perfect!”; and even “go fuck yourself, you ‘know- it-all’, my work is faultless; afraid of competition, huh?”). They do make for an interesting read sometimes, and sometimes they leave me puzzled – so after some thinking and a few discussions with friends, I realised an important thing:
Very few people are able to view their work objectively.
It works in both directions. Some people create amazing things but in their own eyes they are nothing special, just ‘something I made’ . The are the perfectionists, never satisfied with the end result, and sometimes suffering from ‘impostor syndrome’. As a result they do put their own work down, and either under-price it or, if making things for themselves, they get disappointed with the lack of perfection. Usually they just need a bit of a boost, usually from another person whose opinion they feel they can trust, to start looking at their creations in a different light. Sometimes their sense of underachievement may come from comparing their own work to other artists to whom they look up – and that issue can be dealt with as well.
If you think you might be one of these folks, there are a few things you may do, to try to look at your own work in a more realistic light:
* Take photos of you work and if you are feeling particularly low, have a look at the old ones. more often than not, you will see how far you have come!
*and a final note – Do not use the Impostor Syndrome as an excuse for sloppy work – if one sleeve is longer than another, if the collar doesn’t align or the hem buckles it is not you telling yourself you are trying too hard to be too perfect and most people won’t notice it anyway. Grab that seam ripper and set too work, it will be worth it!
Now, let us have a look at the other end of the scale.
Some people are not able to see their own mistakes – and the reasons may be numerous, ranging from a case of Dunning- Kruger Syndrome to the fact that your family and friends may be pumping you full lies so that you stay happy. Or maybe you are starting on a long road and are so ecstatic about the first step as a whole, that you cannot see the details which could be improved (been there, done that, got the tee shirt. I now cringe when I look at those ‘masterpieces’ I used to be so proud of!)
one of my early corsets…. essentially a tube. but gosh, i was so ecstatic about it!
4 years and about 60 corsets later…. getting better!
Most often, the apparent confidence in one’s own brilliance comes not from an over-abundance of self esteem – but rather a lack of it. Often, people are bought up in the belief that mistakes are bad and to be avoided at all cost – and that admitting to one is just as bad. Years of self delusion, denying all possibility of any fault, usually re-enforced by the white lies that family and friends ( and often paid so called ‘experts’ and life coaches whose business depends on your thinking you are doing great…)) feed you, and you somehow loose the ability to see your mistakes – and most importantly, to learn from them.
Now, if you are making things for yourself, and love what you doing – that is really all that matters – especially when you are happy about your results. You are happy and that’s the end of it – enjoy it, and what everybody else is thinking does not matter at all.
However, if your professional career depends upon it, and you are making things for other people, this can be detrimental to the development of your business and indeed can stop you from fully realising your creative potential. It will also make you very unhappy – you are producing fantastic things, but nobody wants to buy them – why? If you want to succeed, you need to understand how to adjust your perception – even though your mind is telling you clearly that there is no fault with the product, it is just that all of those other people are wrong, and being awkward! ;-0).
There are a few techniques that may help:
Your Best Friend
Funnily enough a friend with a psychology degree once noticed – The people who claim to suffer from the Impostor Sydrome usually are suffering from the Dunning- Krugger – and the other way round…. our psyche is tricky, so as you see, it is not easy to be objective in such cases, but the essencial thing is the realisation that neither syndrom is a reason for shame and in either case you can most likley improve!
Well, that is it – I believe my first blog ever with more text than pictures, a rarity! I hope my musings were not too hard a read and that they may help some people. If you have any ideas on other techniques people can use to learn how to assess their own work (more or less objectively), please share in the comments!
a lovely write up about our little shoot yesterday!
With next weeks big freeze in mind, here’s some very seasonal Victorian photos taken for us by Lucas & Izabela Pitcher of Prior Attire. We had a wonderful afternoon yesterday visiting them.
I had a late realisation at the end of last year that I was working outside during February half term 2016 at Audley End House in Essex and that I had no warm clothes to wear, apart from buying lots of thermal underwear, I was straight on the phone (or rather e-mail to Izabela, who fortunately had some pre made clothing in stock that matched the dress she had made me beautifully. When I walked in her house and saw them on the chair I immediately fell in love with them. It’s not very often in life that the thing we’re expecting is far better than you had imagined it to be but this was certainly the case. I…
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A Damsel in This Dress 