#the breeches are breeching

[ego-sum-arbor]

Weird pants (small fall breeches mock-up) update ft. my cat! They are now shaped like a bifurcated leg garment!

The top of the fall looks odd because I’m partway through attaching the top facing. The facing itself is sewn on, but I haven’t added the fall lining that anchors to it and holds it down.

After I finish the fall I need to figure out how and when to alter the leg shape to fit— I’m fairly lost on the technique there and how to reconcile those alterations with the inevitable leg shortening that I need to do for the actual breeches. At the moment the legs are quite baggy and the pattern instructs me to take them in to fit. Additionally, while this cut is supposed to be knee breeches, the ends of these hit at about mid calf on me. I do know how to shorten the pattern pieces without throwing the leg shaping of the original pattern off. Since I won’t know how much length needs to be taken out until these are done, I intend to do that part in between this mockup and the final product. However, I’m concerned that the lower section of my fitted leg seams won’t fit properly once the leg itself is shortened. Moreover, I don’t know how the fashion fabric will actually behave on my body. As a result, I’m thinking that adjusting the fit of the legs will have to wait until I put together the fashion fabric, non-mockup version.

Likewise, I’m really hoping that the waist fits. In theory it should: I measured myself at the appropriate points and picked the closest size like I’m supposed to. A 32 5/16 inch waist corresponds to a size 32 (with the back gusset providing inbuilt potential for a bit of expansion). Unfortunately, based on how the current mockup fit, it seems like that size might come out too large. Alternatively I may be misjudging how closely the seat will be gathered, or how much room my shirt will take up. I won’t actually know for sure until I’ve made and attached the waistband.

There are some problems with the shape of the fall and the pockets that are inherent to the pattern I’m using. At the moment, I’m more or less resigned to having a fall that doesn’t sit quite right. I wasn’t aware of them until after I had all my fabric cut and had started putting this mockup together. I honestly don’t know if I would have picked another pattern anyway, as the one that other sewists recommend as having a better cut fall only goes down to a size 34. That’s a no go for someone who wears pants with a 30 to 32 inch waist, and I’m not comfortable enough modifying patterns to size them down. Eventually, I’d like to correct the cut of this pattern for myself, but it’ll have to wait for when I have a little more experience.

[fashionsfromhistory]

Sailor's Slops

1600s-1700s

Extremely rare survival of a shirt and breeches, called slops, as worn by sailors from the late 16th through to the 18th centuries. This unique set of loose, practical sailor’s clothing reveals life aboard ship. They are made of very strong linen to endure the hard, rough work. There is tar across the front from hauling ropes. The breeches are heavily mended and patched, which the sailor would have done himself.

The Museum of London (ID: 53.101/1b)

[history-of-fashion]

ab. 1785 Suit (coat, waistcoat, breeches) (France)

silk velvet, silk satin, silver colored metal thread, silk

(Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin)

[vinceaddams]

JEECHES

my friend you are a delight

Jeeches for a Jeorgian jentleman!

I don't have them anymore because they didn't fit very well, so I donated them to a small local theatre company. And I regret not doing yellow topstitching, I should have just gone all in and done it.

I have another remnant of denim in my stash, so perhaps someday I'll make better jeeches.

[hollyjumper]

[p2ep]

I like ultrakill but it'd be better if it was about a machine that was fueled by love who is looking for her missing cat in the alps

[qvert]

Let’s just say Imogen’s new outfit is fucking fire

[suburbanswirl]

Faux leather jodhpurs by PS of Sweden, silk bow blouse by Escalier, leather buckle gloves by Wilsons, and leather riding boots by Frye.

[2skyhorse2]

[lyrouxx]

its been weeks and im still thinking abt his panties btw. so have a thing for when I first laid eyes on them

[fashionsfromhistory]

Doublet & Breeches

c.1625-1635

England

This ensemble of plain wool serge, probably once black, now faded to brown, is a rare example of everyday men’s dress of the early 17th century. It is lined for warmth with a linen pile fabric, similar to modern towelling. The doublet openings are faced with shot silk, perhaps to deceive a casual observer that the whole garment was lined with a more luxurious fabric. The cut of the ensemble may represent the rather old-fashioned tastes of someone from a rural area or an older man. By 1625 slashed or paned sleeves were coming into fashion and a longer, slimmer cut of breeches replacing the full style seen here.

The Victoria & Albert (Accession number: T.29&A-1938)

[history-of-fashion]

1790-1810 Habit à la française by unknown maker

silk, velvet, satin

(Amsterdam Museum)

[leder-kommandant]

Insta: ORIGINAL POST BY officerfrank_bluf

[hollyjumper]

[neil-gaiman]

Hi mr. Gaiman, I really love your books and short stories! I just read Coraline yesterday and was wondering about it.

So, I read the book in English, which is not my native language, so it could be me misunderstanding whatever is written, but I am really curious and wanted to ask you.

So in the book, when Coraline is in the room behind the mirror she meet 3 ghosts. When Coraline asks one of them if they're a boy or a girl, the ghost answer is "when I was small I wore skirts and my hair was long and curled, but now that you ask, it does seem to me that one day they took my skirts and gave me britches and cut my hair", and the the same ghost says "I believe I was once a boy". The other two ghosts say they're girls, and later, when Coraline finds the 1st soul it's confirmed that this is in fact a boy.

What I wanted to ask is, is the ghost boy trans? I'm asking because I really don't know if I misunderstood or that this is true, and I would really appreciate a honest answer.

Also I don't know if someone already asked you about it, so I'm sorry if you've already answered this question.

Thanks anyway, for everything you've written!

It's a good question.

If you want to read it as the ghost having been trans, you certainly could.

When I wrote it, though, I was thinking of the rite of passage known as breeching. That was the custom of taking a boy around the age of 6 or 7 out of the skirts he would have worn until then, and giving him breeches, what the English might call trousers. They made an event of it. Often the boys would have their long, curly hair cut at the same time, but not always. Hair could be cut before breeching, or after.

Let's look at fashion for boys in England...

The custom lasted longer than you might imagine. This is Franklin D Roosevelt in 1884...

and an English boy in 1871...

...and breeching continued in many places until the early 20th Century.

I've read in many places that boys were dressed as girls when small to somehow protect them from the evil eye, but most of the history of fashion articles I've read maintain there wasn't boys' and girls' clothing, there was children's clothing, and it was more about the complexity of how you did up adult trousers and the ease of small kids being able to go to the toilet. I post anything to do with fashion and history on Tumblr a little nervously, knowing that there are people out there who REALLY know their stuff, and will take enormous delight in explaining this a great deal better than I can.

In the meantime, here are a few links.

[dooneysworld]