1920s hand embroidered slip, cocoon wrap and "Bad hair day" wig

Style

 The lady who lounges.  Peachy perfection and seafoam dreams.  It is no secret that a muted seafoam is one of my favorite colors-  I adore how in the 20's it was paired with sherberty purples, oranges and pinks.  For this project I wanted to create a sort of 'at home' look that was clearly made not to be hidden away but to be seen- at least by the lucky ones. 

Construction

The slip is constructed of  the a peach silk silk that is an iconic shade of the time.  A sort of no color color.  It has completely hand sewn and french seam.  The pattern is my own however its shape is very simple one that is seen over and over again in 1920s garments in everything from slips to gowns.  The lace is antique and the straps are silk.  THe embroidery pattern on the front is from an extant transfer that I used (and added the bow).  The embroidery is done in silk that I dyed.   For the project I taught myself how to hand hemstitch from a few diagrams I found online.  The hemstitch is done in dyed to match thread.  

The cocoon bolero is made of this absolutely amazing panelled hand painted silk I found deep in the bowels of a local fabric store. I dyed silk thread to match and hand tied silk fringe at the hem.  It is french seamed and has a hand sewn baby hem.  

Accessories

Without a doubt my 'bad hair day' wig is the star of this show.  It is constructed of modern raffia (rayon based) on a dyed to match cotton bobbinette ground.  The flowers sewn on the gown were salvaged from an original 1920s silk gown that had virtually completely disintegrated.  The wig is entirely sewn by hand and was made on the stand. 

Photos by Phillip VanNostrand