I don't claim to be an expert on the period, I've only made a couple of outfits from it.
It's not the hook that makes the front dip down like in your image.
The straight front corset of the period (if it's a "true" s-bend) will tip the pelvis back more and the chest out, dropping the waist down further at the front. Note the image below...
Remember that period illustrations will always show the ideal form, not the real one. The ideal form is not reality - if you compare 1905-10 fashion plates with museum garments, they are almost unrecognizable as the same thing, but they are. Just like women of the 1830s actually did have shoulders, women of the 1900s actually did have spines.
A lot of the shape is achieved with padding - a hip pad and a ruffled corset cover will give you a lot of oomph. This link is Jen Thompson/Festive Attyre's take on Natural Form, but she used a 1900s pattern for a hip pad. You can see how much difference the right underwear makes.
The waistband will sit at the narrowest part of the body - even if that's on a slant. It can't go anywhere else: every other part is too wide. You do need to cut the skirt so it rises higher in back, otherwise it will hang funny.
La Couturier Parisienne has some period skirt patternsI highly, highly, highly recommend checking out a copy of the Edwardian Modiste by Francis
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You slip the waistband of the petticoat under the corset hook. The hook is an inch long and it's all held down by other clothes. You're not going to be doing gymnastics - it's not going anywhere. You don't use the hook on the visible skirt.
If you don't think the hook will hold, you can also put your petticoats on a yoke. That way the waist is one one-two layers thick and the floof happens further down.
From what I know, those hooks on the front were to prevent petticoats from riding up. Often there would be a pair of hooks in the back as well. I've seen somewhere that there was a small hole, like a button hole, near the waistband on the center front of a petticoat. The hook was pulled through and the petticoat wasn't able to rise up or to move side to side. I forgot where I saw it, but I've seen it around somewhere.
About your question of the outer skirt staying lower in front I have no idea. Maybe you can achieve this by adding a ribbon on the inside of the waistband and hook it under the hook as well, to keep it low.
I recently watched this movie and loved the costumes.
Thank you for the link, those costumes are beautiful.
I was planning on doing some ribbon tied to hook contraption for the outer skirt. But first I want to try and see if it doesn't just stay in place without.
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It's not the hook that makes the front dip down like in your image.
The straight front corset of the period (if it's a "true" s-bend) will tip the pelvis back more and the chest out, dropping the waist down further at the front. Note the image below...
( ... )
Reply
Do you know anything about how the petticoat hook worked though? Just to keep the petticoat from riding up?
Sadly I can't use a belt to help the illusion, the character doesn't wear one.
Reply
Remember that period illustrations will always show the ideal form, not the real one. The ideal form is not reality - if you compare 1905-10 fashion plates with museum garments, they are almost unrecognizable as the same thing, but they are. Just like women of the 1830s actually did have shoulders, women of the 1900s actually did have spines.
A lot of the shape is achieved with padding - a hip pad and a ruffled corset cover will give you a lot of oomph. This link is Jen Thompson/Festive Attyre's take on Natural Form, but she used a 1900s pattern for a hip pad. You can see how much difference the right underwear makes.
The waistband will sit at the narrowest part of the body - even if that's on a slant. It can't go anywhere else: every other part is too wide. You do need to cut the skirt so it rises higher in back, otherwise it will hang funny.
La Couturier Parisienne has some period skirt patternsI highly, highly, highly recommend checking out a copy of the Edwardian Modiste by Francis ( ... )
Reply
If you don't think the hook will hold, you can also put your petticoats on a yoke. That way the waist is one one-two layers thick and the floof happens further down.
Reply
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About your question of the outer skirt staying lower in front I have no idea. Maybe you can achieve this by adding a ribbon on the inside of the waistband and hook it under the hook as well, to keep it low.
I recently watched this movie and loved the costumes.
http://www.stephaniecollie.com/the-go-between/
Reply
I was planning on doing some ribbon tied to hook contraption for the outer skirt.
But first I want to try and see if it doesn't just stay in place without.
thank you for your time :)
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