mandie_rw | Titanic exhibit (Reply)

Or, My 1913 Pimp Coat.

I went to the Titanic exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philly yesterday with a small group;

dragoneyes19 did a nice write-up of the actual exhibit that I'm linking to because I'm too lazy to write it all out - suffice it to say they did a very good job, and we were all very impressed! They even had a replica of the Grand Staircase that you could have a professional photographer capture you on. I had mine taken, but wasn't impressed enough to pay for it at the end of the whole thing. :P That face was not worth seven dollars, trust me!

Photography wasn't allowed in the exhibit, so I only got a few shots ("I need full-lengths of this outfit!!") myself, but here they are...

I look awfully self-satisfied in my Pimp Coat...

Can't forget the shoe shot! Too bad you can't really see the fabulosity of my fifteen-dollar shoes with the black stockings...but I felt that white stockings would have looked Horribly Wrong with this outfit! (Plus I was very happy to have the wool for the walk from the train station to the Institute and back! I don't have any wool stockings in white...)

(Rest of the photos are from

madamekat)

Kat, Judy, and I waiting for the rest of the group. You can't see it, but we're in between the legs of the giant statue of Ben Franklin.

We kind of figured he would've appreciated that.

After the exhibit, we walked (or, rather, tottered) over to the Dandelion Pub for lunch. Very atmospheric!

Verdict? Yup, I like this outfit, too, though I think the accessories really make it (Big Silly Hat, Pimp Coat, &tc.) My hair was pretty bad, but hey, hat on all day, who cares? The skirt came out maybe a titch shorter than I intended, especially for 1913, but it's still a good length for walking and showing off shoes, so there! And one sleeve is shorter than the other, but this is the kind of outfit I'll mostly be wearing with gloves, and Robin didn't believe me when I tried to show her the different lengths, anyway ("How did you do that?" "I'm an IDIOT!").

I actually sewed most of the snaps and hooks/eyes on today, because at 3am Sunday morning I had had enough of them - pins you can't see worked fine for the first wearing! But I figured I should get them sewn on before putting the dress away, or odds are good I'd be wearing it unfinished next time too! So while I had it on I decided to take pictures of the closures - because who doesn't love a good, overly complicated Edwardian closure?? (Yes, I'm aware 1912-13 is not, strictly speaking, in the reign of Edward. I call everything up through WWI Edwardian. It's easier. Shuttup.)

First, the inside, not on me. Note the boning! Yup, this drapey, unfitted-looking dress is fitted to within an inch of its life. Well, not quite like a Victorian dress, but still considerably more than you might think. Lined in polished cotton, and the outer front pieces are lined in cotton muslin, as is the skirt.

And now for the fun part...putting it on. For the record, I never did get around to finishing the petticoat or camisole, so on Sunday I wore my combinations, corset - and my 18thc shift over that, both for some kind of (short) petticoat, and sleeves under the dress (those combinations are sleeveless)!