Social Distancing: AKA How I Acquired Pretentious Hipster Hobbies

Over the last month and a half, I have adopted several new hobbies in an effort to cope with the sudden isolation and uncertainty caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

One such recently acquired hobby is historical garment recreation. After watching hours of youtube videos dedicated to the topics of historical garment recreation, and restoration as well as Victorian fashion, I decided to embark on my own historical fashion based adventure. I have always loved the look of Victorian era hoop skirts, so I decided to make my childhood fairytale dreams a reality and create the perfect Victorian inspired tea length hoop skirt. I do love the long flowy skirts typical of the era, but with my propensity for hiking on muddy woodland paths and chasing my dogs, I figured mid calf length skirts might be ideal. Besides, with summer coming up, I really want to make sure these skirts are not only fashionable, but also practical.

To achieve my ideal fairytale-esque skirts, I need to make three pieces. First, a crinoline; a crinoline is basically the skeleton of the skirt, using boning, you create the garment that contains the hoops that gives the garment shape. Crinolines also serve to keep the heavier fabrics away from your body which makes them quite practical for the summer months. Another benefit of a crinoline, is the freedom of movement it allows. Because a crinoline holds your skirts away from your legs, it allows you to move more efficiently than some modern styles of skirts such as miniskirts.

Next, I need to make the petticoats. The petticoats are a thin underskirt which go overtop the crinoline to smooth out any lines from the boning, while simultaneously giving even more shape and body to the final skirt. Think like the fluffy white skirts Alice wears under her blue dress in the original animated Alice in Wonderland movie. Those are petticoats. However in my case, I will be using thinner petticoats as this skirt is designed for the summer months. Though layering petticoats is a wonderful way to stay warm in the colder months.

And finally the skirts. I bought three different fabrics for the skirts so I could experiment with different styles and types of fabric. The first fabric I bought was a dark forest green cotton woven, the second was an opalescent blue shot cotton woven, and the third was a lightweight silvery purple linen. Because the crinoline and petticoats are separate pieces, I can use them under multiple skirts. The three different fabrics allows me to experiment with different gathering and pleating techniques, as well as tiering and using lace trim.

This complicated and lengthy endeavor of mine is an effort to recreate the fairytale fashions I’ve always admired, as well as staying busy, and inside (sewing 8+ boning channels will do that). And who doesn’t want to skip through the forest on a hot summer day with skirts swirling ethereally around your legs, gloriously held away from your body by a crinoline acting as your own personal fan?

Plus, the best part about making your own clothing is that you get to control everything! You can adjust the fit to your exact size, control the quality of the material, and best of all, you can add as many pockets as you want!

And sure, I’m making clothing in quite outdated styles in an attempt to live out my Little Red Riding Hood/ Alice in Wonderland fashion envy, but you can easily make clothing in any style you like.

Besides, while I do appreciate the aesthetic and practicality of some historical fashions, I enjoy modern styles and conveniences as well. Hence why I’m making my Victorian inspired skirts fall mid calf, rather than the full length style typical of the period. And why I designed the skirt pattern to flatter my platform Dr. Martens combat boots and early 2000’s band tees. And because I chose to make a skirt, rather than a dress, I can layer sweaters on top to achieve a cottagecore look, or wear band tees that make it look like Alice fell into the mosh pit at a Green Day concert rather than Wonderland as I choose.

Despite the many inconveniences of quarantine, it has allowed me to explore some new hobbies and ideas that I’ve never had time to invest in before. And historical garment recreation isn’t the only slightly pretentious hobby/ skill I’ve picked up these past few months. I won’t bore you with the details, but here’s a short list. So far, I’ve learned: how to sew a corset, how to be a beekeeper (before I realized that I’ll be in college soon and that wouldn’t be fair to the bees), how to make sourdough starter the right and wrong way, how to make artisanal coffee, how to mill your own flour, how to build a quail hutch, and finally, how to use a film camera! I’m still looking for a French penpal, but we’ll get there.

I know everyone is finding time for new hobbies right now, from baking bread, to writing poetry, but making your own clothing is a very rewarding and eye opening experience that I would highly recommend! You own it to yourself to at least check it out.