Salwar!

I love big, billowy things. This tends to affect my designing in my classes, unfortunately. Or not-so-unfortunately. Anyway, I was recently seized with the NEED for a pair of patiala salwar pants (that was probably really redundant, but I don't know exactly what those words mean... ). I modified the traditional pattern to be a little less full at the hip, and I designed in a couple of pockets on each side for practical functionality (I love pockets, everything should have pockets) AND to bring the bulky width of the pant a little farther down from the waist. I still have no idea what to do about a closure... I also modified the traditional Indian salwar pattern into something a lot more like a traditional Turkish pant (check out the links at the bottom of this post). My fabric is a relatively heavy, patterned fabric (I have no idea what type of fabric is). I'm not sure how it will drape, as it is a lot heavier than the muslin that I'm using for my mock-ups.



I whipped up a few mock-ups yesterday. I'm in my undies for the first couple, so they are not posted here, but below are pictures of Salwar 1.3. I always feel a grand sense of accomplishment when I manage to recycle a mock-up (this was made up of the remains of Salwar 1.1). Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with it. I think the centre piece is a little too wide, creating a bit too much of a 'diaper' effect... but I will cut it out that way, and if I can't handle it in fabric, I'll just trim it down.






And now, a couple of interesting links that helped me out a bit:

How to Make a Turkish Salwar
Method of Stitching a Patiala Salwar: Vani's Blog
Turkish and Ottoman Dress

Vermeer and the Yellow Bodice

Researching the portraits of Johannes Vermeer, yet another yellow bodice keeps popping up! It is a little 'heavier' visually than the Terborch bodice. As you can see in the paintings below, the trim is a lot wider than the Terborch bodice - still multiple rows of trim, but definitely a wider trim; velvet ribbon? The cuffs are black, not yellow. At the waist are tabs (something that is not seen on all similar bodices of the period) that are bordered in black. Like the Terborch bodice, the neckline of the bodice is bound with a narrow black binding. CF seems to be bordered with black trim as well.

Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, 1657, Johannes Vermeer

Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window (detail), 1657, Johannes Vermeer


Officer with a Laughing Girl, 1657, Johannes Vermeer

Young Woman with a Water Jug (detail), 1660-62, Johannes Vermeer

A Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman (detail), 1662-65, Johannes Vermeer
Look, a rare back view! The back-most (is that even a word?) two tabs are visible, but it looks like the other tabs are tucked into the waist of the over-skirt. I wonder how many tabs are actually tucked in...

Dutch Baroque

For a while lately, I've been incredibly interested in Dutch Baroque genre paintings, and the costume of the latter half of the 1600s in Holland. The other day as I was perusing the paintings of Pieter de Hooch, I found this:



Now this painting is not by Pieter de Hooch, as far as I can ascertain; unfortunately, I can't remember WHO the artist is! I have perused the Web Gallery of Art for hours trying to find the artist again, with little luck. If you know, please tell me!

Anyway, when re-perusing the work of Pieter de Hooch, I did find this, which is actually by Gerard Terborch, found in the WGA here. The colour and trim details are remarkably similar to the painting above, with a few differences; finer trim, a few less rows, a wider cuff... this painting is called The Concert c. 1657.

The Concert, Gerard Terborch, 1657

I think I will investigate the style of this era next...