A Fortuny Dress Can't Be that Hard, Right? #fauxtuny

 We'll start here at Joann's. In September 2022.

This slinky pleated fabric is all that and a bag of chips. I am frankly obsessed with it, and once I purchased it, I treated like a very sacred object.

And go here

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-birth-of-a-unique-gown-the-delphos-palazzo-fortuny/SgVhyD72_413Jw?hl=en

(oh my gosh, what a presentation! Well done Goggle!)

which leads to here

(the album this is in is https://www.flickr.com/photos/ateliersol/albums/72157602156412189/with/1472610094/ )

which is from here

https://www.fashionstudiesjournal.org/partnership-content-a/2022/4/22/mariano-and-henriette-fortuny-notes-on-co-creating-the-delphos-gown

And here I am. yardage and ideas.

Palazzo Fortuny image, from artsandcultureGoogle

Palazzo Fortuny image, from artsandcultureGoogle

This second image hits twice for me. One, I want the sleeveless dress and a sleeved 'jacket', and two, the model in front of a drapery and the view of the studio behind would work for photos in the sewing cave. two thought processes in one photo

But dress.

https://streisandstylefiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Screen-Shot-2019-05-23-at-12.31.36-AM.png

The top edge is going to be handwork, and I really don't enjoy handwork. But if you do

https://www.larva.eu/en/fortuny-delphos-or-how-to-pleat-by-hand/

and a lovely Delphos by Before The Automobile

https://beforetheautomobile.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/merja-palkivaara63-1.jpg?

Many pretty photos and secretive process on IG under #fauxtuny, but I'm using that Joann's stuff, so as is my usual, to hell with the purity of process, let's go for results and perhaps some relatively quick ones at that.

Going from the Fortuny patent text in the FSJ article: my numbers are these

My head is 23 - so half of that is...12 for A. My arm got chubby, so that is 18, half that is 9 for C. For the drop between my head and the top of the armhole should be at least 9 (I arrived at that number mostly from the proportions in the patent sketch. B looks like it's about as long as C. So 9 for B.

9 + 9 + 12 + 9 + 9 = 48" wide (or 96" sewn into a tube)

I want it to be 47" from my neck to the hem (maybe 46").

So my fabric will be 97" by 48.25ish. I need rattail. Also interior cord that doesn't show. I need beads.

Front neck and back neck have separate cords for width adjustment so I don't choke

For a video of one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8nxA8d3AcE

And a slip to fit and make me feel comfortable

I have made significant progress on this, but I realized I had not finished this and posted it because the project had stalled. It has stopped stalling.

Roaring 20s And Swinging 60s And A One Hour Dress Challenge

 https://exhibitions.fitnyc.edu/roaring-20s-and-swinging-60s/pattern-project/

I will be sewing this one this spring. This is my catnip, even if I never finish it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LFHtNMZxYg&t=8s
She makes a scale model of the pattern to show how it goes together. I do love a scale model

And of course, we can't not look at this

https://exhibitions.fitnyc.edu/roaring-20s-and-swinging-60s/hour-dress/

Who can actually sew the one hour dress in one hour?

Well, nobody, but certainly in an afternoon you could get most of it done. This video discusses the wisdom of that timetable, as well as a little history of the pattern, the woman who developed it and her story, and some general sewing pattern history. The One Hour really does want a few inches of ease to let that bodice drape (it's worked really well in rayon for me, and because it's almost all straight seams, you're less like to run into issues of stretching on the bias).

And the original pamphlet is available for free. Yes, I said FREE. So stop paying for this sweetie!

https://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/html/warm/H-SW007.htm

\https://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/pub/PDF/H-SW007.pdf

Don't forget to visit the online exhibition!

https://exhibitions.fitnyc.edu/roaring-20s-and-swinging-60s/exhibition/

The One Hour Dress 1920s version

Once I knew what the One Hour Dress was, I saw them everywhere.

http://theclosethistorian.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-one-hour-1920s-dress.html

Go search on 'one hour dress 1920s'. Go ahead, I'm here all week.

https://youtu.be/VImcfqrqWKQ is the You Tube ad for the book (original link is dead)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/163561029X/

but here it is on Amazon.

There are a million variations on the One Hour Dress. I based my pattern on this image I found online, which turns out to be from a pretty nifty pattern on Etsy. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/154191896/1920s-one-hour-frock-pattern-updated

Give her your $3, you won't be sorry. 

the alder shirtdress does it too

It's a pullover design of the early 20s, a tube with  a horizontal slash at the hip that gathers the side fabric extension into the main body as a skirt. 

A one piece pattern that is easy to draft, uses fabric very efficiently.

Probably easy to make from flour sacks.

The versions out there are generally pretty dumpy, but if you look at the illustrations using this style, there's a lot of sweet details.

The slash goes from side to side, and is wrapped with the same white cotton on the vertical appliques

Another slash across the center front, with the red bias finish making either belt loops or something to pull your dishtowel through (seen it both ways).

In both of these examples, the seam is on the 'right side' and is covered with a different fabric trim.

The One Hour dress is on the upper left with the boatneck and the flowers

You're just laying the pattern over prepleated/tucked fabric here

Dear reader, of course I made one...

Yes, you are drafting your own pattern from a formula and measurements.

I should mention that the Superboard isn't the most accurate for cutting precise measurements; the grid gets shortened lengthwise with the folds in the board.

But it gets the job done

drew a neck hole based on my head

shoulder seam line

started drafting from the neckhole out. A plastic sword makes a good paper weight/spreading device

ripped to grain up the fabric, folded it crossgrain and doubled

The one pattern piece laid out

Marked a front and a back neckline; will cut both for the back and then one for the lowered front

I could have used the minimal scrap for a facing for the neck line, or pockets

I haven't added pockets.

Yet.

thread gathered the skirt extention to tack it to the bodice (seam G for those of you playing along at home)

I put black bias tape over the gathered seam G (sewed that with the seam allowance to the right side). Also finished the neckline with the stuff.

All the bits for this came from the stash, for once.

All the interior finishing was zig zag stitch over the seam allowance.

Period would have been pinked, but rayon can be ....capricious.

It is waaaaay too wide (the bodice should be your chest measurement plus 2", NOT plus 8". I also need to find a better place to take photos and find another face to make in those photos.

On the other hand, it's rayon so it's drapey and the finished object isn't out of scale for the period. Kinda a William Morris rose.

It's a sack dress, without darts or extra cuts. It's kinda sweet, kinda frumpy, and I plan on wearing it tomorrow night to the theater.

Not the theatre.