Progress report: 18th century men's shirt

[luzula]

Okay, here's what I've got so far. Floofy sleeves, like I wanted! : D

I kind of wonder if it's too loose? But then I look at this painting of Voltaire getting dressed, and decide that no, it's not.


It's not done: I still need to sew on the insides of the cuffs and collars, make buttonholes, make something to strengthen the end of the slit at the neck, etc. Should I have ruffles along the front or not? Cannot decide. Also, it goes almost to my knees and has long tails, as it should have.

...I have no sewing tag, I guess I'll just label this by fandom.

Comments

[hyarrowen]

Ooh, very nice! I appreciate the neatness of the gathering into the cuffs, and the neatness of the v of the neck slit. Looking good so far.

[luzula]

Thanks! Yeah, I do like how it looks around the cuffs. Guess I have to get (or make) cufflinks for it...

[sanguinity]

Oh, that's coming along very nicely! What is the fabric, and what are you using for a pattern?

I vote yes for ruffles! Wasn't it the fashion to wear the waistcoat half-unbuttoned, with all the ruffles showing? How can you do that, if you don't have ruffles?

[luzula]

Thanks! I haven't done much sewing in a while, though I did more of it when I was younger--but never this kind of historical clothing, although I did do a medieval-ish outfit like twenty years ago. It's a nice linen fabric, and I'm going off this description.

Ha ha, yes, I guess I have to do ruffles. And maybe I should make a waistcoat at some point, as well, to go with the shirt...well, but I am very busy and that is a later project. I did not at all start surfing Etsy to look at gorgeous brocade silks. *facepalm* If I even want something that high-class.

Keith seems to have a lace cravat in Edinburgh, even with his workaday redcoat uniform? He ties up Ewen's wound with it--I very much appreciate the sentiment, even as I think that lace is not great as a bandage!

[sanguinity]

Clearly Keith should have stripped down to skin so he could rip his shirt into bandages. :-D

Ewen: That's really not necessary...
Keith: [clothes flying across the room] No, you're bleeding, I gotta!

[luzula]

Actually I have personally stripped down to skin so that I could use my shirt to bandage someone's wound! : D

There was no sexual tension involved, though, at least not on my end and I hope not on his--the guy was my boss at an Arctic field research station who had fallen and hit his head on a rock while we were out on the slope of a mountain, and he was bleeding copiously. A helicopter eventually came to get him to the hospital and he was okay.

[sanguinity]

Yikes! Yes, that is not at all sexy, nor would one want it to be. I'm glad he was okay.

Happily every mountain rescue I've participated in (as if there were so many!), everybody was capable of walking out at the end.

[luzula]

I imagine many things that are fannish tropes are actually, uh, quite different from the fic version if you actually live through them!

[sanguinity]

Huddling for warmth. Is being cold ever sexy? I have my doubts.

[james]

So awesome and floofy!!

[luzula]

Thanks, goal accomplished! : D Though now I need to actually finish it...

[nnozomi]

That's lovely! I would wear a shirt with a neckline like that in a heartbeat. Much impressed by your sewing skills.

[luzula]

Thanks! Actually one won't see much of the neckline later on, since there will be ruffles and a cravat. : )

[ljm]

Hooray for 18th century shirts! Yours looks very nice! (Also, that's an amusing photo you used for reference)

[luzula]

Thanks, and also, hi! : ) I am a beginner at this sort of historical sewing (though I've done other sewing and I did make a medieval-ish outfit twenty years ago). But I see that you're more experienced at it.

Yeah, the Voltaire painting was a good find! Of course in most paintings the shirt is covered up...

[osprey_archer]

Love the floofy sleeves! And also love that there is just a random painting of Voltaire getting dressed, WHY NOT I guess!

[luzula]

Thanks! I discovered the Voltaire portait at cahn's 18th century salon. : )

[ceruleancat]

*clapping*
Looks lovely. Successful sleeve gathers and floof.
You could probably rig internal drawstring at bottom or along the sides if you wanted to hitch it up a bit for varying functionality.
Have you decided how to do detachable cuffs?

[luzula]

Thanks! : ) The description I went by doesn't have the actual cuffs detachable, is that a thing? I do have little hooks that I thought I'd use to attach lace ruffles to the cuffs. No idea how they did that in the past, though.

[china_shop]

That looks so great! *applauds*

[luzula]

Thank you! *bows in a manner that shows off the floofy sleeves*

[petra]

Oo, that's excellent.

[luzula]

Thank you! : )

[feroxargentea]

The floofy sleeves are lovely!
For what it's worth, I vote you go the whole hog and add ruffles. Jack Aubrey would approve.

[luzula]

Thanks! Yeah, I guess I'll eventually add ruffles. : )

Though it turns out I didn't really have time for an extra project...augh, my to-do list proliferates. /o\

[regshoe]

It looks amazing :D Very nice floof on the sleeves, and I like how the floof goes into the gathering at the cuff. I think you should have the ruffles!

[luzula]

Thanks! : ) I'll post photos of details later on, but yes, I do like the way the sleeve is gathered into the cuff.

And yes, I'll definitely do ruffles, but I think I need to do some more research first about how they should look.

[cahn]

Oh, that looks awesome :D I vote for ruffles! ALL THE RUFFLES!

(Also, VOLTAIRE, omg :D )

[luzula]

Ha ha, everyone is voting for ruffles. : )

That Voltaire painting is actually really helpful! In ordinary portraits the shirt is all covered up.

[seascribble]

Very floofy and manly indeed!

[luzula]

I will be so manly with my lace and ruffles! \o/

[jesse_the_k]

Were men-in-high-heels a thing during this historic period?

[luzula]

This site says that men's shoes stopped having high heels in the beginning of the 18th century!

[chestnut_pod]

Positively piratical! I love this.

[luzula]

Thanks! : D Actually it's kind of funny how many people's association with this kind of shirt is "pirates!" when it was just the ordinary garment that all men wore...

[ceruleancat]

All patterns are mix and match, especially with items like basic shirts and shifts.
I don't know enough about 18th century men's shirts. But it's likely. , given in earlier periods, cuffs and ruffs and collars were detachable, or well, separate items to be added, and 19th century definitely had collars and cuffs as add-ons, even whole sleeves in women's gowns. Little buttons or hooks are likely. That's how you often connect bodice to skirt, or long sleeves to an open evening bodice to make it suitable for daywear. But specific construction requires research.
Forgot to say, I'm fairly certain I saw detachable cuffs made somewhere. I'll float a link your way when memory becomes more concrete. I definitely saw vids on waistcoats I can rec if you want.

[luzula]

Thanks! Do link if you see something interesting, and I definitely want to do a waistcoat at some point, though I don't know when that will be. : )

(icon is for Voltaire, whose tunic is loose to increase skin in the painting)

[jesse_the_k]

Most excellent!

Was sewing a topic you learned in school? Or at your (older relative)'s knee? I couldn't gather a sleeve into a cuff if my life depended on it.

Re: (icon is for Voltaire, whose tunic is loose to increase skin in the painting)

[luzula]

I learned it at school--I remember sewing a flannel shirt and an anorak in the textile crafts class, for example. I'm very glad they did teach us such skills! We had a wood and metal-working crafts class as well, but I was never as interested in that.

Anyway, after that sewing always felt pretty natural to me. I've sewn several dresses and a medieval-ish outfit when I was younger, though in recent years most of my sewing has been patching holes in clothes and the like.

Re: (icon is for Voltaire, whose tunic is loose to increase skin in the painting)

[jesse_the_k]

it's a vital life skill (i’m lucky — MyGuy’s mom was a home ec teacher and a feminist: all kids had to cook, clean, wash and mend.

[garonne]

Wow, that painting of Voltaire is really something. Guess you can never have too much floof...

Your shirt looks so cool, especially round the arm gatherings. I expect you have decided by now what you're doing for the collar and cuffs?

I tried just now to find some info about how detachable lace ruffles and collars actually worked, via search engine and YouTube, but didn't have much success. Having them attached via buttons sounds uncomfortable--you'd need a whole row of buttons around your wrists and neck. I guess they were tacked on, and then the sewing was unpicked when they needed to be separated to be washed?

[luzula]

Thanks! Actually I have completely failed to do any more work on it since I came home from my parents' place. I think there was not actually time in my life to make this shirt! But I will finish it eventually.

I have these small hooks that I thought might work, but you're right that it might be uncomfortable, hmm. Yeah, I guess if you're making a not-very-sturdy seam it might not take that long to add/separate them.