Becoming the Harem Girl

One of my favorite transformations thus far has been from innocent victorian woman into the exotic harem girl. What for, you ask? For a Fancy Dress Ball, of course. ; ) Last winter I leared of a victorian party in the planning - an 1860s Fancy Dress Ball to be held at a mansion in MD. Since I was researching Orientalism for my stand at a local reenactment I was immediately attracted to the Harem girl costume Empress Eugenie was painted wearing (above). I used to be the mastermind behind the tableaux vivants performed at Landis Valley and various other reenactments and social occasions...but Vince wouldn't allow me to put on tableaux that depicted harem scenes - what? they were popular in paintings of the day, and the orient is soooo inspiring! So. This year at Landis Valley I was determined to do something different and so the Orientalism stand was born...after countless hours of pouring over 80+ books on the subject it was a reality...complete with exotic couch, peacock feathers and yards and yards and yards of fabric. It was yummy.



I waited all weekend to do this! You can tell my greatest desire is to be a victorian harem girl and live the luscious life that they were said to live. They had those couch things that servants carried them around in - how could one not want that life!

The harem costume almost didn't reach completion, and it took a lot of hard work within the first week of classes to pull it all together. I draped the bodice up here at school and it was made from red silk fabric purchased at a thrift store for $1. Awesomeness. Here are pics that I looked at for bodice inspiration:::

'Daniel Deronda' this red bodice is love...side note, I purchased the silk for a dress like this over the summer...don't know when I'd wear a bustle dress but who needs an occasion.





And here's the original bodice that I used for the lines of my bodice.



































































And now...for pictures of the completed dress. Click on pictures for a slightly larger version. I made the cage crinoline I'm wearing specifically for this outfit because I wanted something a bit smaller than the usual 108". The skirt also has a slight train which took some getting used to when dancing...but I think I've got it mastered now and I'm ready to move on to longer trains. =)

Check out the pictures and a review of the event on Noah Brigg's blogspot: The Outsider's Perspective (scroll down to Costume Ball entry on Sept 13th) and on the AGSAS photo page.


Colleen Formby pictured at left is in a costume depicting 'Night' - it was stunning! The dress was made by my friend, Anna Allen of www.thegracefullady.com fame. ; ) Shameless plug for Anna whose dresses are amazing!
(pics of the dress on the two sites listed above)