1920's dress
November 2019 - December 2020
inspired by "Peaky Blinders"
Another "Peaky Blinders" costume! I have always wanted to make matching costumes and some time ago I created a 1920's suit inspired by "peaky blinders" for my boyfriend, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity. Also, we both really liked the show and I hadn't made a dress from the 20's yet, so I thought let's go for it! I just want to add that this is not a cosplay from the show, even though I really like the costumes I decided to create my own design based on the costumes and visuals from the show.
My final sketches
My favourite female character is probably Grace but I liked Tatiana's costumes a lot so I took some elements from both, added a few of my own ideas and came up with this design! I also tried to stay away from the cliché "1920's dress" with a lot of fringes and feathers and tried to come with something a bit more original. I actually found it pretty hard to design this dress, because I wanted it to be simple, but not too simple. In the end, I decided to hold back on the decorations (I still used a lot but not as much as I could have ^-^" ) and instead I played more with the shape and structure of the dress. I used a lot of triangular shapes and lines, which created a more geometrical design. I consider this to be one of my more simple and easy costumes but I have never done a design like this before, but I'm really happy with how it turned out! This dress took me in total over a year to complete, but this was mainly due to the fact that I moved a lot and usually didn't have all my sewing stuff with me. It wasn't as complicated as most of my costumes so if I could have worked on it normally I think it would have only taken me a month or so.
some inspiration photos
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Peaky Blinders - BBC Studios
Part 1.1: the dress, the base
First of all, let's start with the base of the dress. I didn't want to use a fabric with a print, because I didn't want to "overload" the dress and I think a print would have taken away from the design. But to keep it interesting I decided to use two different fabrics. The main fabric is a light silk fabric and the other one is a see-through chiffon. I loved the see-through part on Grace's evening dress, so I really wanted to incorporate something like that, it just looks so delicate.
I debated a long time on which colour I should go with, but in the end, I decided on silver. It's a colour that would look good with my boyfriend's outfit, but I also think it fits really well with the "peaky blinders" vibe.
The two silver fabrics I chose
The silhouette of the dress is pretty simple but it has a lot of triangular shapes, which were actually quite difficult to make right, especially since the fabrics are so light. I started with a mock-up in one piece, then I traced out all the shapes I wanted and cut them all out.
The mockup
I worked on the upper part of the dress first. I cut out and sewed the "main part" of the dress, making sure to leave an opening on the left side for me to get in later. This was pretty easy, but then came probably the most difficult and stressful part of the entire costume: the edges of the chiffon. The shoulder pieces are made of chiffon, which is see-through so I couldn't use a basic hem because it wouldn't have looked good at all. Instead, I sewed a piece of water-soluble interfacing right where I wanted the edge of the shoulder piece to be, folded it over and used to tinniest zigzag stitch to go over the entire edge. Once this was done I could just cut away the excess. The first step (sewing the interfacing in place) is really important to keep the fabric shape and not stretch it out. Anyway, I had never used this technique before, I just thought of it, and wasn't sure at all if it would work but it worked just perfect! Also, it makes the edges look so fine and delicate, I like it a lot.
The main piece of the dress
Sewing the edges and the tricky spot on the shoulders
For the shoulder pieces, there was one particularly tricky spot though. I decided to make the whole shoulder part out of one piece of fabric, this created a spot right where the dress sits on the shoulder where there almost isn't any fabric. I created this in the design on purpose, but I had to be really careful whilst stitching the edges in this spot. Once this was done I could simply sew the shoulder piece and "main" piece together.
Sewing the shoulder piece to the dress
And this is what it looks like so far!
I continued with the bottom part, or the "skirt" part. This is actually made out of 16 triangular shapes (8 small ones out of the main fabric and 8 big ones out of the chiffon) that are layered over each other. I cut out all the pieces and hemmed them in the same way as the shoulder piece, this time paying extra attention to the "point" at the bottom. Once this was done I started adding them to the dress, working from the top to the bottom. It took quiet some time to position them all correctly but I got there eventually.
Sewing 16 triangles, using the special hemming technique
Adding the first layer of triangles...
Finally, I could add the lining. I sewed it to the top first but before securing it to the bottom, I basted it down to make sure the fabric wouldn't move whilst I was sewing it in place permanently. This turned out to be a mistake because once I took the basting stitches out, you could still see where the needle had gone through the fabric. In the end, I managed to remove the marks but it took quite some effort and could probably have been avoided.
... and adding the second layer
Finally adding the lining
A little "work in progress" photoshoot!
Afterwards, I just added some snap buttons to the side to close the dress and the base was done! It looked pretty good, I even did a little photoshoot to show my progress, but some decorations were clearly missing.
So let's decorate!
Part 1.2: the dress, the decorations
I love decorating, it's probably my favourite part of costume making. It can really bring a costume from quite plain to absolutely stunning, but it's sooo time-consuming ^-^" let me tell you, there are a lot of beads on this costume! But I can't complain about this dress, the decorating part was definitely much faster than some of my other costumes (I didn't go crazy, sewing over 800 sequins by hand as I did with my 1910's evening dress... yeah).
I more or less knew how I wanted to decorate the dress, but I wasn't sure exactly which materials I would use. So I bought probably every silver bead, sequin and other decoration I could find and played around with them until I found a pattern I liked. In the end, I went with tiny beads, sequins (I love sequins) and two sizes of crystal Swarovski beads. These crystal beads are just so pretty, they really sparkle in the light which was perfect for this dress!
Creating a pattern for the decorations
An important thing for me was that the dress would have a lot of movement. I said before that I didn't want to use any fringes but I still liked the idea of loose strings at the bottom of the skirt because it looks so pretty with movement. So I decided to use this idea of loose strings all over the dress. I started by adding a string of beads and crystals to each triangle at the bottom of the skirt, replicating the "fringe" look but a bit more original in my opinion.
Adding the strings to the triangles,...
I also added some long beaded strings across the dress to create those geometrical lines I talked about earlier. I considered stitching them down but again, I wanted some movement. The only one that is stitched down is the one on the seam between the main part of the dress and the triangles at the bottom, to make sure it would stay nicely on the seam.
... to the bottom of the dress,...
I also added a loose beaded string to the back, between the two shoulders, which is one of my favourite additions to the dress, I think it looks so elegant! As the last step, I added some sequins to the triangles and main part of the dress to add that extra sparkle!
... and to the top and shoulders
And the decorations were done! I was quite hesitant when I started putting them on, I really wasn't sure if my idea would turn out the way I imagined it but I'm really pleased with it actually!
The only annoying thing is that I have to be super careful when I put the dress on because I have to make sure all the loose strings are in the right place and not tangled up, and also I'm really afraid of breaking one. I don't think they will, I made sure to use double thread but still, you never know!
All done with the decorations!!
Part 2: the headpiece
When I decided to make this costume, I immediately knew I wanted to make a headband, especially since Tatiana wears one as well! Also, I don't think there is any other period for which I could make a headband like this so I had to take my chance now. I had so much fun coming up with a design for this, I think I liked making this part the most.
I tried to make it match the style and ideas of the dress. At first, I tried to incorporate the triangular shapes of the dress but that didn't look very good. Then I thought, since the dress has a lot of loose strings, maybe I could do the same on the headpiece. I wasn't sure if this would look weird or great, but I'm so happy I tried it out because I loved it immediately. I used some more crystals and sequins to complete the pattern. The final touch was the little tassel on the side, at first I just used three more tinny strings but I decided it needed a bit more. So I added a small piece of jewellery I had lying around that fit the headband really well.
Making the headband
And done! The headband is actually only decorated in the front because the back will be hidden under my hair anyway. There is also a hook and bar in the back so I can put the headband on easily.
Love the little tassel!
Part 3: the fur shawl
The costume was basically done, but I felt like it was still missing something to give it that class I was going for. So I decided to make a fur shawl, you can't get much classier than that! At first, I wanted to use white faux fur but decided it didn't feel very "peaky" to me. Then I found this stunning grey faux fur, and I knew it was right. It's just so soft and pretty, I love it.
Making the shawl was quite simple, I just bought some more silver fabric for the lining, sewed it to the fur, turned it inside out and there you have a shawl! I just added an invisible stitch along the edge of the lining to make sure it would stay in place and the shape would hold nicely.
This was such a small amount of work compared to the rest of the costume, but in my opinion, it made the costume so much better! Maybe I just have a weakness for soft and cuddly stuff but this shawl is just the best and I also loved walking around with it, I felt so classy and feminine, I could probably wear this every day!
Making the fur shawl
Part 4: the undergarments
This is kind of a bonus part since it's not part of the actual costume but it still belongs with this project. When I first watched "Peaky Blinders" I actually really liked Tatiana's blue undergarments (I won't put any reference pictures because it's quite scandalous, but if you have seen the show, you know which ones I'm talking about ^-^)
So I decided to make them as well, maybe some cosplay after all!
The blue lace is so pretty!
The shorts were pretty easy, I just used a basic pattern and added a blue string to tie it up at the top. The lace fabric I bought for this had a beautifully finished edge
so I just made sure the bottom edges of the shorts lined up with the edge of the fabric when I cut out the pieces. This way I also didn't have to hem the shorts so that's nice.
Making the shorts
The top is just a strip of lace but I wanted to use the finished edge of the fabric on the top and bottom of the strip. This way I could avoid an ugly hem and it would just look prettier in general. So I cut two strips of the finished hem and sewed them together. I tried to hide the stitches as much as possible between the lace stitching and in the end, you really cann't see them so I'm really happy with that.
Making the top
I wanted to close the strip in the back with some fabric buttons, unfortunately I couldn't find them in the right colour. So instead I bought some white ones and dyed them myself which was actually really fun to do! Then I just added them to one side of the back and sewed some loops with blue ribbon to the other side. Finally, I just added some shoulders straps out of the same blue ribbon, and I was finished!
Dying the buttons: before and after
Initially, I had planned to wear them underneath my dress, but since I used some see-through fabric for the dress, the undergarments were just too visible so sadly I can't wear them all together. But they still look great and maybe I can wear them with another costume!
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Also like I mentioned before, these undergarments are quite scandalous since the lace is see-through, so I don't have any pictures of me actually wearing them, you'll just have to believe me that they look good ^-^!
Coming up: the fur coat
My original plan for this dress was to pair it with a coat. I wanted it to have a fur collar and cuffs, but in the end, this idea transformed into the fur shawl I just talked about, due to lack of time. But I still want to make the coat someday I think it would look so beautiful! So I hope that one day I can add a coat to this costume, anyway keep an eye out for that!
Some inspiration pictures
Final note: like I said before, I made this costume to go with my boyfriend's suit, unfortunately, we haven't been able to take pictures together yet, but we will as soon as possible! But I do have some really nice pictures of just my dress down below, I hope you like them!