For the second part of my upcycling project, I am continuing with the Edwardian fashion inspiration. I found a used cotton sundress for $8 and will be altering to look stylistically similar to a cotton slip dress from the late Victorian – early Edwardian eras. The attention to detail in those historical garments is alway absolutely astounding to me, so I am hoping to be able to channel that a little bit.
The original dress already has the shaping of a slip so it ought to be pretty simple to make a few changes that make the piece stand out from other products of the fast fashion world.
Original piece:
I actually think the dress as it is is very lovely. But, it is pretty simplistic in the way that you could find a ‘boho sun dress’ in this style pretty much anywhere. My intention in upcycling it is to use the small alterations to create something much more unique and difficult to find in the fast fashion world.
A few images of historical garments that I am hoping to draw some inspiration from:
I’ve noticed that oftentimes, the petticoat or chemise is used in Edwardian and Victorian fashion to accent outer garments. I plan to use that same basic principal when designing this upcycled piece. Because of this, I am going to focus on making the biggest changes around the neckline and bottom of the skirt.
I think that I will need to shorten the skirt in order to make the entire outfit low together more smoothly. So, I am going to style that alteration after the basic layout of most Edwardian petticoats. That being to have the skirt fall strait, and then attach a separate tiered layer at the very bottom. This piece will essentially be a modernized, shorter version of that.