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Big THANK YOU to everyone who supported this campaign... up to the moment it expired while we were actually hard at work re-creating the gown in Edinburgh! What bad timing! Sadly, it can't be re-activated.
The good news is - we did complete the gown! Our audience was utterly amazing, with intense interest, fantastic questions and really positive feedback both during and after the event. Photos and write-ups are all over social media, and we are now well into Phase II of the project, with development of the sewing pattern, editing tons of photos and footage to make our documentary, and with several talks and workshops already booked.
Follow my Facebook page for links and updates.
A lot of the campaign perks* are going into my Facebook shop. It is not too late to score a scarf or shawl! And pre-order is now open to get your hands on the reproduction hard tartan by Prickly Thistle.... ENJOY! And THANK YOU!!!!
* Please note the PDF pattern will be available bundled with fabric orders and workshop bookings. It will not be available for sale as a separate item. Everyone who claimed the pattern as a campaign perk will get an email shortly with details on how to claim a £20 credit against fabric purchase or workshop booking.
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Do you remember the first time you saw a photo of the Isabella McTavish Fraser wedding dress?
I do. It came at a magic moment for me: the convergence of planning my own wedding dress, discovering my Scottish heritage and cultivating the germ of an idea to launch my own historical dressmaking business.
Like so many of you, I fell head over heels in love with this dress.
Its survival and undimmed beauty is remarkable. It’s the only known pre-1800 tartan gown still in existence. That in itself makes it unique. But then consider…. it was made by a Highland woman on a remote farm, as her own wedding dress, and then she passed it down to her daughter-in-law, who passed it down and so it went through the generations, always being kept and worn as a wedding dress. The dress was precious to Isabella, possibly the most valuable thing she ever owned in her life, and it has continued precious in her family right to our day. To be kept in the family, to be worn by its brides, never to be sold. Such is the heritage and pricelessness of what is, to the objective eye, a rather simple gown, made in wool and linen, no costly lace or embellishments.
And so we see it today, iconic in its fiery red tartan, the embodiment of romance, not only for Isabella and the brides who have come after her but perhaps also for Scotland itself.
As my working life began to revolve around making historically accurate re-constructions of original 18th century gowns, I wanted to see for myself how this remarkable example was constructed, so I visited the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, where the gown has been on display, to study it in person.
And the more I learned about, the more I wanted to make one like it for myself. And I’m not alone! Over and over, when this dress is mentioned on social media, someone pipes up to say “I want to make that dress!” or even “I’ve made that dress!”
Somewhere along the way, the idea struck me: Wouldn’t it be great to take this dress, in all its glorious colour and detail, beyond museum walls? To share all the details of its construction with everyone who loves it, in a way that’s far more meaningful than just posting a few photographs or a blog post on the Internet?
The answer: Make a replica gown. In front of a live audience. Get as many people there as possible. And film it to reach even more.
And thus was born the Isabella MacTavish Fraser 'Gown In A Weekend' Project
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THE PROJECT
With your help, my historical dressmaking "Dream Team" will enable you to:
- Learn how this iconic dress was made back in the 1780s.
- Watch a faithful reconstruction as it’s made right in front of your eyes.
- Learn how you can make your own Isabella dress, right down to replication of the original gown's idiosyncrasies that make it truly unique.
- Get 'swag' in reproduction Isabella tartan -- from a pin you can wear on your jacket to a luxury shawl, carry a little bit of Isabella's beloved dress with you.
WHAT:
We start with a live dressmaking demonstration, where we will show you how women’s gowns were cut, fitted and constructed in the 18th century, using Isabella MacTavish Fraser’s iconic tartan wedding dress as our template. The result will be the most exacting and accurate replica that has ever been made (bearing in mind 100% accuracy is not possible and we hope others can use what they learn from us to go on to achieve even more accurate results).
We will use only thoroughly researched and documented period construction and sewing techniques, to show you how dresses from that time period were draped on the body and fitted precisely to the wearer. We’re going to do this – not behind glass – but live, right in front of you.
WHEN:
Saturday 29th June [sessions 10.30am-4.30pm]
Sunday 30th June 2019 [sessions 10.30am-3.15pm]
WHERE:
National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1J
Events Space, Learning Centre, level 1 (entry via Chambers Street)
EVENT INFORMATION: www.nms.ac.uk/weddingweekend
Admission to our dressmaking demonstration is FREE and you are welcome to drop-in to any or all of the sessions.
The original dress will be on display in the National Museum of Scotland's exhibition Wild and Majestic: Romantic Visions of Scotland. This exhibition is ticketed, please see www.nms.ac.uk/wildandmajestic for details.
Please remember, the original dress is 235 years old! It will not be accessible outside Wild and Majestic: Romantic Visions of Scotland.
The funds raised in this campaign are going directly towards the costs of making this live event happen: specifically the fabric reproduction (approx. £2,000 including VAT), travel and accommodation for 8 people in central Edinburgh for 1 week (approx. £6,500 including taxes), the photography/filming (approx. £1,500 including VAT), plus an estimated £2,500 to cover IndieGogo fees, mandatory reserves and postage costs for perks.
No one in our team is getting paid to do this – we’re all donating our time, skills, energy and passion to bring this dress to you.
Why this project?
The appeal of this dress to people around the world is powerful. You and I are not alone in wanting to make it – many others do, too. Quite a few have actually done it, but the fruits of their labours aren’t known in any detail, beyond family, friends and personal networks.
But it’s not just a dress. It’s living history. And unless it is studied and recorded, the opportunity to learn and share its lessons will be lost.
The dress is literally, one of a kind. There isn’t another one, anywhere, like it that you can go see, much less study. Until now, this dress has never been thoroughly studied, with all its details recorded in such precise detail that it’s now possible to make a truly accurate replica. No filling in the details for parts of the dress you can’t see from photos. It’s all there. And it needs to be recorded and shared, so that these details aren’t lost.
My aim with this project is not simply to make a dress but to glean as much insight from the original as possible, from how it was cut and constructed as a garment to the characteristics of its historic textiles, also to record its place in Scottish history both as an object of material culture and an artefact of a working Highland woman’s life in the context of her socio-economic circumstances.
This is why my ambitions include documenting the replica dressmaking process in every detail with a view to sharing that process and the replica dress itself with the widest possible audience. We all learn together. And the knowledge is captured and preserved.
Your donation to this campaign will help deliver this, by supporting our research, education, time and passion that will bring the Isabella dress out from behind the glass directly to YOU -- as well as to researchers, academics, historical dress specialists and every dressmaker in the world wanting to make this dress!
At a personal level, you’re unlikely to ever handle the original, much less wear it, so wouldn't you like to benefit from the research others have been doing, maybe even learn enough to make a really good reproduction of your own?
Why now?
The dress is still owned by Isabella's descendants. It is only by the incredible generosity of the current owner that the public is able to see it in a museum.
Running this replica dressmaking event this summer, with the original dress just a few rooms away for you to see for yourself, is a rare opportunity for us to share with you everything we have learned.
But this campaign has ambitions far beyond one weekend in one city...
- We will record the dressmaking demonstration so that everyone who can't attend the event will have an opportunity to watch it later on film.
(We hope your generous support will cover the film-making costs in full, but we’ll part self-fund if necessary, we are so determined this will happen.)
- The documentary of our demonstration AND the replica dress will go on tour. A few appearances in the UK are already being considered for winter 2019/spring 2020, and then our ambition is to take the film and dress to the USA. This will give as many people as possible the chance to not only learn from the film how the replica was made, but also to see the dress yourself. Study it thoroughly, inside and out. Touch it. Learn how it was constructed, with access to behind-the-scenes photos and details gleaned from our personal study of the original dress. Hear about the research that went into making the reproduction fabric -- what we got right and what we wish it were possible to do better. Ask questions. Thoroughly satisfy your curiosity about this iconic and quintessentially Scottish dress.
(The tour is not funded through this campaign. We rely on museums, universities, costume societies, historical groups and the historical dress communities to invite us to present to them. Organisation and funding for the tour will take shape from these invitations.)
- Future plans also include ‘zooming in’ to give in-depth detail on certain aspects of the original dress and the processes we’ve gone through in commissioning reproduction fabric and in making the replica dress. Channels for sharing these details include articles in costume journals, posts on social media and potentially a series of podcasts and/or videos.
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WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?
As well as contributing to the body of research into Scottish history, material culture and historical dress, our perks give you the chance to get your own personal rewards, too... from a heartfelt ‘thank you’ from our team to everything you need (from pattern to materials to gaining skills), to make an Isabella dress of your own to the very highest standards of historical accuracy possible today.
Here’s what’s on offer – do click each perk over on the right, to see full details.
- Every single contributor will be thanked by name, on our ‘DONOR WALL’ at the end of the film.
- For £5, receive a personal CARD from the team thanking you for your support.
- Flaunt your own tartan PIN! (£10 perk)
- Get your own SWATCH of the same reproduction tartan used for the replica dress. (£15 perk)
- Get a PDF PATTERN for you to make your own Isabella dress (£20 perk)
- For a donation of just £50, get a 25% DISCOUNT on a special limited run of reproduction tartan to be woven later this year, by the same mill that made the repro tartan used by our discerning team. This perk is for our early supporters! It’s priced at a bargain £50 but is only available in the run-up to the live event. (I plan to launch the fabric pre-order in July 2019, at which point no crowdfunder discount will be available.).
- Keep warm and cosy with our Isabella tartan SCARF in luxurious merino (£75 perk)
- Show off your A-List Tartan Superstar status in our red-carpet-worthy Isabella SHAWL. (£225 perk)
- Make your own dress tour date! Book me to bring the dress and the film for a special viewing to your group at your own event. (£500 perk)
- For you dressmakers…. book a private 2-day workshop for you and 3 friends, where I can personally teach you how to make your own Isabella dress. (£600 perk)
- Or go all out and get the full 2-day dressmakers workshop including pattern AND 25% off reproduction tartan. You’ll need to be quick though! There are only 2 of these perks available and the discount part of it will EXPIRE 31 October 2019. It’s an excellent option if you like to plan ahead: buy this perk now, start budgeting for your fabric, get 3 friends to join you and then book the workshop with me in 2020. (If you’re not sure you can commit to this perk by the end of October, then go for the £600 perk and then wait for the fabric pre-order to launch – there's no fabric discount with that, though.)
There are some combination perks here too. If there are other combos you would prefer, just let us know and we'll see if we can put that together for you.
Some of these perks we can deliver to you electronically, Others, like 'thank you' cards, pins, scarfs and shawls, will involve a small additional postage charge. If this applies, you'll see it on your chosen perk before you've committed to buy.
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HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT THE ISABELLA DRESSMAKING PROJECT
- Please buy a perk!
- Please spread the word on all your social media networks. Here’s our Facebook event page for you to share!
- You are personally invited to the live dressmaking event in June. Please come! (It’s free – even if you haven’t supported this crowdfunder!)
- Please invite all your friends! How exciting it will be, to see a full auditorium for this.
- Please spread the word that the documentary film and the replica dress will go on tour and can come to a venue near you.
- If you know a group or venue interested in booking our film & dress “show and tell”, please tell us. We'll do the rest!
ABOUT ME
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I'm Rebecca Olds, founder of Timesmith Dressmaking specialising in the reproduction of 18th century women's clothing.
Over the past year (with three very memorable research visits to Inverness), I have come to appreciate more than ever how unique this dress is and what a strong pull it exerts on so many of us around the world and especially all the people who have attempted, often on the basis of one photo alone, to make their own gowns inspired by it.
Fortunately, my proposals for how to turn my vision of sharing this dress into a reality in 2019 struck a chord with others, and I am thrilled to be joined by a true ‘dream team’ of skilled historical dressmakers and interpreters.
THE TEAM
Rebecca Olds of Timesmith Dressmaking (Project Lead)
Lauren Stowell of American Duchess
Abby Cox of American Duchess
Peryn Westerhof Nyman of Isabel Northwode Costumes
Katy Stockwell of Regency Regalia
Alexandra Bruce of Alexandra Bruce Costumes
Georgia Gough
Flora Macleod Swietlicki
Joining us on this journey is Prickly Thistle, the only tartan mill in the Scottish Highlands area, who is making our reproduction “hard tartan” fabric for the replica dress. We owe special thanks to the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery and to the current owner of the original dress for their generosity in granting the kind of access that allowed us to research the dress so thoroughly. . We are grateful to the National Museum of Scotland for hosting this event.
We look forward to bringing the dress to you and hope one of our perks tempts you to become a part of this project.
Thank you for your support and welcome to the team!
Rebecca
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Photos by Katy Stockwell, Peryn Westerhof Nyman, Barbara Olds, Rebecca Olds and Clare Campbell/Prickly Thistle. Used with kind permission.