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1915 Suit

The suit is based on a 1915 model that I immediately fell in love with but for which I didn't have a pattern. The one in the print seemed to have raglan sleeves, so I selected a 1915 jacket with raglan sleeves and a 1915 double skirt for which I did have patterns and made my own pattern off them. I preferred to have the belt completely straight and had to adjust the size quite a bit, but otherwise I stuck to the model, at least in shape. So you want to see the outcome? OK, here it is.

The original description says that the suit was emerald green, which in my book is rather blueish. I liked the yellowish green in the print better, but I didn't have the slightest chance of finding a suitable green fabric. It just wasn't "in" and still isn't. I bought dark navy blue instead - you can't go wrong with navy blue. Especially as I meant to wear this suit in everyday life. The style isn't too far away from modern ones to provoke comments other than "Oh, how elegant!"

The fabric seems to be cousin of georgette, with the same overly twisted yarn and flowing quality, but also with a kind of tiny woven-in, self-colour check pattern. There were no suggestions for making the trim - I chose satin ribbon, which on hindsight may not have been the best choice as it's stiffer than the dress fabric, so when the latter buckles, it gives away everything with its sheen. The small triangles had me stumped as they would have been very difficult to make out of fabric as you would have to tuck the edges under a very small patch. I'd imagined leather but shied away from the difficulty of getting something suitable, not to mention the difficulty of sewing it on. What I did was to embroider "fly" triangles in gold-coloured buttohole silk. Here's a scan of the materials used.

The make-up isn't very different from modern techniques, either. Actually, the techniques I used were all the same as in a modern suit, with the exception that I sewed in the lining by hand, but I always do that.

So there were only two real challenges, besides designing my own pattern: The trimming and the hat. The latter was taken care of by spending an unusually (for me) large amount of money at a decent hat shop. As for the trimmimg -see above. As I was pressed for time, I left out the trimming on the sleeves.

The only thing that I'd do differently if I had a second try is to choose a stiffer fabric or to stiffen the dress fabric some more, especially the upper part. The skirt and lower half of the jacket is OK as it is, but the trimming on the top part buckles a bit as it's stiffer than the fabric it sits on. Oh, and the collar. It's slightly too narrow and it's also not stiff enough. Maybe I'll cover it with velvet one day to make up for it.

I wore it for the first time in public last week*, in front of customers and colleagues, and the only comments went in the general direction of "elegant" (nothing about it being out of style). Especially when I had the hat on. Unbelievable what an elegant hat can to to the whole appearance! I caught some some people in the street staring.

* That was October 2000

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