I am a total history buff and the Victorian era is my favourite! I think that so much changed as the industrial revolution unfolded. Many of our current traditions, like wearing white as bride, sending Christmas cards and Christmas crackers stem from this time and even Queen Victoria herself. Queen Victoria was the first monarch to be heavily photographed and so we have loads of references to of how she looked, how she lived and of course what she wore. She wore black in mourning for her husband Albert, who died when she was 42 and she never stopped! Queen Victoria wore black for the rest of her life. And since the Queen was short and fat and double chinned, I really thought I was made to dress as her. There is nothing I’d like more than to wear a creepy, gothic, Victorian outfit for Halloween.
So my Queen Victoria costume is not historically accurate, mostly because I didn’t want to waste precious resources sewing something from a pattern that I would never wear again. I wanted to be able to wear some the pieces separately after, so I designed around that. This was always going to be a weird passion project where I did things on the fly and just winged it. I found so many interesting resources along the way and learned loads about historic garments and lots of cool techniques too. I was very inspired by Angela Claytons historic costumes and the way she uses detail to bring things to life. I really enjoyed the puzzles of thinking it all through and I loved trying to play with patterns, textures and trims to make an all black ensemble have rich detail. Ihis post is all about the making, so if you’d like to see more finished pics, please check out this post.
The whole costume has lots of parts, most of which I made but I did get some bits from eBay. I’ll go through them for you:
- A cheap hoop petticoat
- Maxi ½ circle skirt
- Bustle overskirt
- Lace trimmed top
- Under bust corset
- Accessories
I’ll go through what I did and how I got there, just in case you’d like to sew something similar. I would post tutorials but I was making it up as I went along and a few things were based on someone else’s tutorial. I’ll link everything for you. I kind of worked on everything at once, trying to see how things worked together. I did have an over arching idea of how I wanted the costume to look and I did get there in the end.
My pro tip for a project like this is to order a bunch of lace and trims in advance because you might not find what you want locally and, in my experience, local is very pricey. That said, I did buy last minute stuff locally anyway. What I wouldn’t give to have Amazon and it’s speedy delivery, ather than waiting for things to come from China! And you are going to need a dress form that’s your size or help! I had my Mum & Sister work hard on the bustle and Mum with hand finishing but Mr Ask put in hard yards helping with my corset! I’m going to break this down by garment, so if you are interested in a specific element it is easy to scroll to. Let’s go!
Hoop Petticoat & Underskirt
I made the skirt first. Why not start with something you know? It’s a maxi half circle skirt, made with 6 panels (or gores) because I am fat and the lightweight cotton drill I had was narrow (109 wide). Basically, my half circle skirt tutorial but cut in panels like my straight stripe skirt. To get the length I used this handy length calculator I found in my travels. If you want to make your own skirt, those links should see you straight. I didn’t hem the skirt in case I needed to add some extra length. In the end I stitched some lace trim to the bottom and left the edge raw. I will probably remove the lace later and hem it properly with bias binding, so it can be worn as a plain maxi later.
I considered a petticoat, sewing one or buying one but decided not to. Then I made the skirt and wanted a petticoat! I bought a cheap 3 hoop one on eBay (making sure it really was coming from Australia and not drop shipped) at the last minute and checked the tracking number till it arrived. I also picked up a kind of tutu/short petticoat for $12 from my cheapy shop because I thought it might be useful somehow….Of course, the hoop petticoat was too small to get on properly, as I knew it would be. I had planned to cut off the waistband and adding new top bit but then I tried it on. I could just get it on (sort of under my belly) in a way that made it a bit longer and kick out more in the back. It created just the shape I was after, the first of many happy accidents!
Bustle Overskirt
I had plans for this costume waaay in advance and I knew I wanted a crisp fabric like a taffeta for this but I could only find silk taffeta (at silk prices) locally. Being a determined little minx, I did find what I was looking for….in America! I knew the shiny black and matte flocked pattern would add so much dimension to the finished look. So like the crazy woman I am I bought this flocked taffeta (7yards I think?) from Fabric.com. The shipping really hurt (it cost as much as the fabric) but there you go.
I made my Mum and Sister watch this fantastic video on making a bustle and we just went for it! Basically, I used safety pins to pleat the cut edge of the fabric to twill tape long enough to tie around my waist and added three twill tapes down the back. I had my Mum to my right of me and my Sister to the left. Together they pinned up the fabric up into pleats along the selvage edge first and then to the twill tapes, using safety pins, until we were all happy with the poofyness and shape. Safety pins were a good call because nothing shifted as the skirt was moved from house to house (in a glorious garbage bag because preserving the shape & cats are assholes). I probably could have finished sewing it but was waiting for the petticoat mentioned above.
Once I had the petticoat and underskirt sorted, I tried on my bustle, I was pretty happy and was ready to sew on. I stitched the pleats at the waist to the twill tape and then pinned the side pleats with straight pins, removing the safety pins and stitched all the pleats down. I threw all the skirts back on to check that everything was looking right and Mum readjusted and readjusted and ended up unpinning all of the pinned bustling part! For fun we pinned the tutu petticoat (mentioned above) to the waist twill tape on the inside so that the whole thing was padding out the back. We both though that was perfect! Mum kindly hand tacked the whole tutu in there!
I had Mum cut the length at the back into a round shape (she hated being in charge of that!) while I had the bustle on. Most of the raw edges were selvage, so I left those and just zig zagged around the cut areas. I measured the length of the raw/selvedge edge; down one side, around the back edge and back to the waist. I had enough of this wonderful beaded trim (it’s for curtains and I got it on eBay) to sew it on the whole edge to finish it and to add interest. We were all really excited about the look! The last job was to trim the waist twill tape and add a hook and bar to close it (instead of tying it in a bow, which would be lumpy under the corset). The waist would be covered by the corset, so that was all that was needed.
Lace Trimmed Top & Corset
I thought that once the bottom half was sorted, the top would just come to me. There is a reason I don’t sew woven tops, the fitting is impossible! For all the pattern making skills I’ve learned, I can’t get a woven bodice to simultaneously fit my big boobs, curve in for that 3” of under bust space where I am slim and then get big enough for my fat tummy. I spent hours feverishly combing youtube and pinterest for something that would give that structured vibe but still stretch. In the end I found a free corset belt pattern and it’s accompanying tutorials (Part One here and Part Two here). No Victorian woman would show her corsets but they did have boned bodices. A corset would give me that structured front bodice I desired.
I downloaded the free pattern but the largest size was for 31.5” waist and mine is 45”. I had no idea if sizing it up would work but I was willing to try! I printed the pieces out and started to slash and spread them, making each piece 2” wider (including the front piece that would be cut on the fold, so the front would be 4” wider total) and 1” taller, when Mr Ask saw what I was doing and understood, he offered to upsize my pattern pieces digitally. He did and I held them against what I had already done and they seemed right. I added 3/8’ seam allowance and cut out all my pieces. I got to sewing, following part one of the tutorial and got that finished on Saturday.
On Sunday, I started with part two of the tutorial. When I joined all the pieces together, I could see the corset would be too small. I will admit, I came close to tears but Mr Ask pointed out that all my lovely boning work was on the front and back and the sides could be made bigger. Mr Ask resized the two side panels to be about 2” larger per piece, I unpicked and remade and YES! By the time I finished messing with the pattern, it was a whole different thing but it fitted and I was thrilled. I finished the whole corset before I realised I made a boo boo. The back panels are upside down! But as Bob Ross says, it’s a happy accident (my second so far!) because for my costume purposes, it actually looks better that way! Also, the fabric pattern matches better.
I kind of loved the fiddly sewing that corsets require! I thought it would be a chore but it wasn’t at all. I used my taffeta (see bustle) and cotton drill (see underskirt) to make the corset. I didn’t make my boning channels as per the tutorial, I used boning casing and plastic bones throughout because I hadn’t planned on making a corset and couldn’t order steel in time. The fit is pretty good (not perfect) but considering how wildly I messed with the pattern I’m happy. I made mistakes and that’s okay. I still love how it came out! And I’m just a little proud too.
I waited until I finished the skirt before I added trims to the corset. In the end I added some fine tassel trim along the two bones at centre front and a row of tiny buttons right down centre front. The trim to accentuate that front V shape that was so popular at the time and the buttons are similar to bodices of the times. The trim was from eBay (though I have seen similar in Spotlight) and the buttons were from Spotlight (sadly the back was white plastic and I had to colour that with a sharpie!). I also pushed up the bones and stitched the beaded trim (same as the bustle) to finish things off.
I nearly went insane trying to find a stable knit top that I could attach my 3 yards of gorgeous eyelash lace to. Yes, I only had 3 yards (what was I thinking) of this stunning lace that I bought from eBay. In the end I remembered this Kmart top I have that is made of a really stable knit and the front neckline doesn’t stretch at all. I called Kmart in a panic and asked them to set one aside for me (didn’t want to kill the one I had because it’s sweet) and then snapped it up.
I can’t take credit for any sewing here, its all Mum! I got the top situated at the edge of my shoulder and Mum pinched a sort of bust/underarm dart and pinned it. She hand tacked an ‘ugly dart’ that wouldn’t be seen. Now we have that beautiful almost off shoulder silhouette. Then we took the 3 yards of eyelash lace and Mum gathered it up by hand with a needle threaded with black hat elastic. Using my body in the top as a guide, Mum pinned the ruffled lace to the top and tied off the hat elastic. She pinned the whole ruffle to the top evenly and hand stitched to the top at intervals, about an inch apart. That way the top could still stretch enough to put on.
With the corset it makes the perfect cinched and fitted silhouette with that almost off the shoulder ruffle. Did you know that high necklines were worn before 4pm but after your dress could dip as low as 4’ below your collar bone? The effect of sloping shoulders was fashionable and the just on the should gowns were made to show off that aesthetic.
Accessories
Long before fabric was ordered and a stitch was sewn, I really had a plan for this look. A tiara or crown is needed for any queenly look and I tried to find one most like Queen Victoria’s. I wasn’t sure I’d need a brooch but bought one just in case (lucky because I really did need it). Queen Victoria had quite a selection of diamond earrings and I could not resist these dark chandelier drops that matched the trim on my bustle and corset. Staying ghostly white was very desirable in Victorian times beacuse lord forbid you had to work outside! Staying out of the sun was paramount and parasols were very fashionable, so I had to have one of those too! I found all of these goodies on eBay. Oh my I would love to have Amazon and it’s prime shipping but sadly that hasn’t hit us here in Australia. In the meantime, I buy loads from eBay.
The right kind of shoes would probably be silk slippers inside or low heeled button or lace up boots for outdoors. I didn’t want to lash out and buy a pair, so I rifled through all my shoes and found a pair of low ish heels I thought were in the spirit! Not that they were really seen at all.
The style of dress is roughly 1860’s in style and by then Queen Victoria was wearing her hair centre parted and more slicked back but Mum was desperate to do her younger pendant braids plus it’s more iconic. Mum did her own thing but it basically followed this tutorial from Kayley Melissa but also adding in a braided false bun and a braided hair headband to my existing hair. I kept the makeup simple. Foundation, concealer & brows as normal, a hint of pink blush and a little highlighter on the skin. A tiny bit of eyeliner for definition, mascara and half lashes for same and pale pink lipstick to avoid looking dead! Even though Queen Victoria probably didn’t wear makeup, I wanted to look nice in the photos.
And that’s it! Okay, it was kind of a lot of work and it might have been easier to buy a pattern and just make it but I really enjoyed bringing this costume to life bit by bit! I sometimes feel like trying something new is hard. The crazy happiness that comes from stepping out of my comfort zone and figuring out all the puzzles is so worth it! Plus nothing beats being a Queen for a day….
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