Book Review: Embellishments Contstructing Victorian Detail

This slim book is the companion material to the eponymous 2012 exhibition at the University of New Hampshire.  The garments are part of the Irma Bowen Textile Collection, originally created at the beginning of the last century as a teaching tool for seamstresses.  This publication highlights ten American garments brought out of storage for the exhibition and allows us to see close-up images of details of construction.  The emphasis of the book is not to showcase high fashion dresses, but to highlight basic components used to create them.  Astrida Schaeffer clearly describes how these features were utilized both in couture garments and those created by home sewers.  The techniques are simple, but because there are so many ways to embellish with layers of trim, garments are visually rich and appear to be incredibly complex.

Pleating, ruching, bound edges, piping, applique and other types of fabric trims are well known by home sewers today.  The techniques haven't changed, but the mindset towards their use certainly has.  It would be a rare person who would consider using all of these trims (and perhaps a few more!) in a modern dress, but this was commonplace for Victorian ensembles.  In addition to fabric trims, texture, contrast and asymmetry were essential design features.  Examples of all these attributes are shown in numerous full color images.

I was especially entranced by the dress (c.a. 1870) created by Celesta Freeman.  Anyone today would consider it a stunner.  The author states, "For all is high style attributes, a number of characteristics point to it being homemade.  Buttonholes are too small, the tailoring is a little clumsy, and the overall finishing does not compare to professionally-made garment of the time...".  When I examined views of this dress I was shamed when I thought of my complaints about a dress I'm working on now - it only has three buttonholes!  Instead of being a discouragement to my skills, I consider Celesta's dress to be inspirational.

The author provides simple diagrams and instructions for creating the main types of self trims, and as pointed out previously, most will be familiar.  From a practical point of view, I was disappointed that there was no discussion of the weight and characteristics of the cloth used in any of these dresses. I think the home sewist, especially a beginner, must carefully consider the fabric being manipulated before considering trying a variety of self trims in their own garments.  I would hate to see a beginner try a simple technique with a difficult fabric and end up being frustrated.  Many of the gowns described appear to be made of lightweight silks or wools. Creating hundreds of pleats with bound edges and layers of cording and ruching is far easier in a lightweight fabric than most medium weight fabrics used in home sewing today.  Also, few people realize how weighty many historical garments are.  If you make a dress with three layers of gorgeous, it's going to be heavy! 

I would recommend this book for a variety of categories of home sewists. It is a must read for anyone interested in Victorian costume, either for historical accuracy in period recreations, or as inspiration for modern garments.  Artists creating Goth or Steam Punk designs would clearly enjoy this book.  Beginners will be inspired to try a few new techniques and mid-level sewists will rediscover how simple methods can transform a garment.  The descriptions are clear, instructions easy to read and diagrams well drawn.