ariarosevale

[ariarosevale]

A Mid-Century Twist on the Cottagecore Rabbit Hole

Hello lovelies! Apologies for not posting in way too long. Unfortunately I've been struggling with health issues so hobbies and internet took a back burner. I've not gotten any good sewing done outside of masks, but I have been falling into the cottagecore aesthetic. I think a lot of us Historybounders have lol. I’m going to dive into the personal version of cottagecore I’ve built up and am in the process of doing my house in.

I've found that I'm not really into the parts of cottagecore that are super cluttered or distressed and for all that I love the Edwardian and Victorian eras, they aren’t my favorite time periods for interior design so I steered away from the Victorian writing desks, apothecary shelving, and distressed white furniture. I've been playing around and kind ended up making a pinterest board that combined the wholesomeness, homecraft hobbies, and sweetness of cottagecore with mid-century style (40′s, 50′s, and 60′s), sleek lines, low furniture, and South Korean and Japanese interior design. I’ve taken to calling Mid-Century Cottagecore. Link to the full pinterest board can be found Right Here.

The color pallet I've gravitated towards are neutral wood tones, cream/eggshell whites, and earthy greens alongside the soft pastel-like shades that were so popular in the 40′s and 50′s for a colorful pop. Here are pallet examples:

Aren’t these colors just lovely?! They really go well with the natural cozy sweetness of cottagecore.

The backbone of this style is mid-century furniture, sleek lines, and an emphasis on natural wood in the floors, furniture, and even accessories. I intend to make more posts on this as well as the usual historybounding fashion. For now, here are some examples of what I mean with this style.

#cottagecore #historybounding #mid-century modern #1940s style #1950's style #1960's style #retro aesthetic #Retro

[ariarosevale]

Thank God for Youtube!

I have been a busy, busy bee! I’ve made one full lolita-ish inspired skirt so far that I will take pictures of and post soon (once the snow and ice is gone so I can get pics with natural light without freezing to death lol). And I have discovered a Youtuber called TheClosetHistorian (aka Bianca Esposito) and she is AMAZING! From her I’ve learned so much about pattern drafting and sewing vintage style clothing! She shows you how to take a basic bodice block and skirt block and alter it to create anything and everything you could want to sew and she’s a curvy lady so it’s especially helpful for me. I also love that her drafting/sewing videos tend to be about an hour and half long since she doesn’t like to cut out any of the instructive bits that help you learn.

Also, her lookbooks are 12 kinds of fabulous! She does them with a narrative like they’re mini films. The Millionaire Milliner and her series on vintage style Hogwarts Houses inspired outfits are my favorites. Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff.

I’ve also learned from her about stretching your wardrobe versatility even farther by having matching accessory sets. She likes to have a hat (straw, beret, or fascinator), belt, gloves, shoes and handbag all in the same color so she can just swap out or mix accessory sets and the outfit looks completely different. Once I have a set in red, black, and either white or navy I’ll look to adding brooches and silk scarves to my accessory repertoire, as well. Here are some examples of her rounding out her fabulous outfits with coordinating accessory sets.

(all photos property of TheClosetHistorian)

Now that I have my bodice and skirt block I'm working on following along with this video on drafting and sewing a 1930's style bolero and asymetrical skirt that look so amazing. I intend to make this same suit in several colors because it is gorgeous!

I love such a vast array of vintage styles from edwardian to 1950's that I look forward to having a mostly me-made wardrobe that I can mix and match eras to my heart's content. One of my favorite things about historybounding is that you aren't confined to one single decade or style. The whole point of it is to mix together two different eras, modern and historical, so there's nothing stopping us from mixing two different historical periods together. Imagine this 1930's suit with a lacy edwardian inspired blouse and parasol! ❤

#historybounding #vintage #retro fashion #sewing #fashion #1930's fashion #1940's fashion #1950s fashion #style icon #theclosethistorian #costube #sewing youtube #history bounding

[ariarosevale]

Adventures into Historybounding

I’ve been captivated by the idea of historical dress in everyday life since I was a teenager. I even dipped my toes into actually doing it a couple times by making Edwardian walking skirts and getting lacy blouses in my late teens/early twenties but peer pressure eventually made me stop. Fast forward to 2020 and I discovered the CosTube community and the amazing historybounding youtubers that are Bernadette Banner, Morgan Donner, Rachel Maksy, Abby Cox, and Karolina Zebrowska.

I’m 35 and living through plague times with an autoimmune disease so I find myself with a LOT of time alone in my house and the knowledge that this could easily be my last year on earth if I get sick. So screw society and their pressures, I’m gonna dress how I dang well want to. Might as well look and feel fabulous when the world is falling apart around you, right? It’s the little things that get us through. Let’s do this!

I started with a Pinterest board to try and decide how I want my style to look. I needed to narrow down my focus and create a capsule wardrobe to get me started so each piece needs to pair with at least 2 others so I can get multiple outfits out of each piece of clothing. Dresses are great but limit your pairing options so I’ll stick to skirts and blouses for now. But how historical do I want to get with my historybounding? I love floor length skirts but they’re a tad impractical and made me look like I was a super religious conservative or just wearing a costume which isn’t what I’m personally going for. 

Okay, so shorter skirts. Maybe below the knee or tea length. The eras I love are basically anything from the Victorian era to the 1950′s. Edwardian shirtwaists with their ruffles, lace, and buttons in the back are gorgeous but I am not very flexible and have no one to do up my buttons for me so I’ll modernize them by making them front buttoning blouses. Yes please to all the lace, ruffles, and pintucks. If I make a couple waistcoats and throw in a couple 40′s and 50′s cardigans, coats/jackets, and accessories then I think my style is really starting to shape up. 

And then something occurred to me. While doing these Pinterest searches for inspiration, I notice the blouses and skirts I kept being drawn to were actually Classic Victorian Lolita and Vintage Lolita styles. And when I thought about it I realized I was kinda trying to reinvent the wheel a bit, here. Historybounders are not the first to incorporate history into modern fashion. Lolita, Goth, Steampunk, and Vintage styles have all been doing this for decades already.

And when I looked at some of the outfits in these Classic Lolita substyles, I could see potential. If I lengthened the skirts to below the knee and tea length, got rid of the hoop skirt but kept a petticoat, ruled out super busy prints, and overabundance of accessories and trim... you basically get FannyRosie.

(All photos property of FannyRosie)

People, this lady is a goddamn style QUEEN! This is exactly what I want! So I’m gonna go on a sewing frenzy making all the Lolita skirts and blouses and pairing it with all the smart, elegant 40′s and 50′s hair, makeup, bags, etc. I’ll make sure to post updates and finished outfits as I go. I am so excited for this!

#historybounding #vintage #retro #victorian #edwardian #fannyrosie #morgan donner #bernadette banner #rachel maksy #classiclolita #vintagelolita #victorian maiden #costube #sewing #abby cox