I started reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles last month and was having trouble understanding the old English used; without much of a reference for the story, it was hard to get past the struggle to the enjoyment. So, I broke a cardinal rule of readers… one I often do… and decided to watch a film adaption first.
No surprise to me, I fell in love with this movie, it’s setting and Nastassja Kinski’s portrayal of Tess. Much like a favorite of mine, Howard’s End, this story confronts Victorian hypocrisy and how women are made to endure it. We follow the beautiful Tess as the men around her treat her like a pawn. First, for her father, she is used as tool for upward mobility, made to make connection with a wealthy family with whom they share a name. Once employed by her wealthy relatives, she is used once again, taken advantage of by her wealthy cousin and used for sex. The final man to enter her life she falls in love with, and that love is returned, until the fateful truth of her previous affair brings the double standard held against women to the fore with the most deeply felt betrayal of the story. As the story moves onward and Tess struggles to find her own way in the ruin these men have caused in her life, the unspoiled natural scenery gets increasingly invaded by the harsh, noisy and polluting machinery of the industrial revolution… a very fitting outer mirror to her inner world.
This movie offered ample visual inspiration, and I had actually been saving stills from it long before I watched it! I love the layers, wraps, kerchiefs, and shawls Tess wears throughout the movie. In the first half of the movie they are light and airy, adding interest without looking heavy or smothering.
I wanted to create a dress that would build-in some of those layers I loved in the costuming of Tess. The one I landed on, features a simple straight shift dress, with adjustable shaping in the form of two “wrap” panels that attach at the shoulder and side seams and cross over the bust to tie in the back. To create a pseudo-kerchief, I employed a tablecloth in my stash that had a real cute corner detail (a cut-work embroidery border, and a nice mitered corner finish!) and made a sailor-type collar to finish off the neckline and pop to the back as a permanent accessory. I meant to take more “process” photos this time around, but truth be told this one was not the most fun! I did a half-way job of patterning the wrap pieces, assuming their adjust-ability would let them fall right where I needed them to… not the case! I ended up taking the dress on and off so many times to get the panels to not do weird things over my bust, and it seemed that each adjustment made a new problem area to fix. But if anything, this has just made me really glad to have this newsletter :) instead of giving up and relegating this dress to a pile, never to be finished and never to be seen, I was held accountable to myself and gave this project the ending it deserved :)
… and now to finish the book! And also to brag about the real star of this show— a hand knit lace shawl my sister Kelly made for my wedding last year. Beyond beautiful!!
Gorgeous words and patterns!
I love how inspired you are!