Victorian Leisurewear

This was our very first project in our costume construction foundation degree. 
We were given the general topic of victorian leisurewear and from that we could choose which kind of leisurewear we would like to make.
I personally love the tailor- fitted victorian ladies jackets. They're so elegant and flattering....can't believe they used to wear them to play tennis and go cycling in though. They were hard core back in the day!

As I'd never made a jacket before I decided to challenge myself in this first project (a good place to set the benchmark I think). 

Our costume construction foundation degree gave us a basis in practicing how to research period styles and techniques of how they were made. Although we used modern techniques as they are quicker and more efficient for theatre and film it was useful to learn to research historical dressmaking to be aware of what was done in that time to make the garments look as historically authentic as possible.

I made the jacket and pencil skirt from grey wool and the collar from black velvet. I learned lots from this project. I was really happy with my first jacket and although there were definitely things I'd do differently next time such as giving the lining more ease (as it did slightly misshapen the bottom hem)I think it definitely looked like a Victorian cycle-wear outfit.