Concerning Hobbits - Part One
Before I begin, I should explain where I disappeared to for the month of August. The current plague finally caught up to me, and I spent the whole month either actively ill or recovering. The tutorial for the apron pattern I posted about back in July will be up during the month of October instead - just in time for any Halloween needs!
On to what I want to discuss in this journal entry - Tolkien, The Hobbit, and the fashions of the 1910s. This September marks the 85th publication anniversary of The Hobbit. This book, and all of Tolkien’s works, mean a lot to me. The books themselves are so full of magic, and the later movies were formative to my childhood. I struggle to put it all into words - the escapism of it all, the world and the characters in it, and the fact that one man singlehandedly created an entire universe full of language and lore. All of that, and the fact that Tolkien’s works have inspired so many people to write or create. Mind-boggling stuff to a thirteen-year-old girl picking up The Hobbit for the first time. Young me saved up every spare penny to buy the big books on the art and creation of The Hobbit Trilogy - books I still have to this day. It was in reading those books that I realized that costume design was a Real Job. Say what you will about the movies, but they were and still remain very important to me.
But now it’s time to get into what you’re really here for - the research!
Concerning Tolkien - The Man, The Myths, The Legends
Picture this: it’s 1916 and World War One has been raging for two years. Thousands, if not millions, have died. You and your friends are called upon to fight for King and country. You leave behind your new wife and peaceful home and arrive in France in time for the Somme Offensive. After four long months of bloody and brutal fighting, a disease known as “trench fever” strikes. You are sent home to recover. The war ends two years later. Only you and one of your friends have survived. What do you do with that grief, with those experiences? How do you grapple with that?
If you’re anything like J.R.R. Tolkien, you invent a universe, its mythology, its people, and no fewer than four languages to populate it. Reflections of Tolkien’s life experiences can be seen in all of his works. The earliest versions of Middle Earth mythology were written during his recovery from trench fever (sort of like the flu, Ricketts, and head lice combined). The story of Bilbo, someone who had to leave his comfortable home for the adventures and horrors of the wilds and returns deeply changed, was the generational experience for the men and women of Tolkien’s era. The Hobbit, to me, is a story about the loss of innocence, the pursuit of home and adventure, and how one person can change the lives of so many.
The Fashions of the 1910s
Women’s roles in the 1910s changed rapidly. At the start of the decade, women were still largely in the domestic and secretarial fields. By the end of the decade, women had worked in or alongside the military, in munitions factories, and in the plethora of other jobs that departing soldiers left behind. Fashion had to change to accommodate the changes.
Practicality was the name of the game. Hemlines went up for ease of movement. The number of layers decreased. Hair was either pulled entirely away from the face or cropped short. Support garments like corsets and petticoats grew less stiff - some even forwent the corset entirely. Trouser-adjacent garments were even worn by munitions workers, couriers, and conductors - possibly the first time women could wear trousers outside of playing sports. It was a remarkable change from the long-skirted, high-collared, and elaborately trimmed dresses of the previous decade. Gone was the s-bend corset, now replaced by something that looked more like a girdle than a corset. As the war continued, steel was rationed. The corsetry industry was hit hard by this rationing. Elastic began to replace steel boning in corsets. The earliest recognizable take on the modern bra was developed by Mary Phelps Jacob in 1914, and was mainstream by 1917.
Fashion was trending towards pieces that could be worn independently of each other and combined with other garments. Think of it like the original idea for the capsule wardrobe. Blouses and skirts became hugely fashionable, as did hard-wearing fabrics like denim.
Project Process - Patterns and Pieces
I had the base layer for this ensemble figured out thanks to the lovely patterns from Scroop Patterns. I used the Selina Blouse and the Kilbirnie skirt for this project. Both patterns were easy to follow and put together. The checkered linen for the blouse was from Renaissance Fabrics and the yellow silk was from Firecracker Fabrics.
The rest of it was up to me - with the skirt and blouse figured out , I was left to draft the jacket and vest.
I started with my bodice block (go back a couple of blog posts to create your own!). I cropped it, took away all the darts, eased out the armscye, and did the mental gymnastics to add the lapel. The jacket front pieces had the lapel grown on; it wasn’t its own pattern piece. I then redrafted just the lapel for the velvet facing. I mocked this up and only had to make a couple alterations. If I could go back, I would alter this pattern further. The cuff really needed a closure instead of just being a closed up tube, and the cuff flounce probably needed to be made out of a different material to be less stiff. After only a couple of wears, the cuffs gave out and still need repaired. The wool crepe was a lucky find at a charity sale, and the cotton lining and velvet came from Firecracker Fabrics. The horsehair canvas used on the interior is from Renaissance Fabrics.
It was a relatively simple tailoring project. The body of the jacket is loose and unfitted, so there was no need to worry about darts or shaping. I padstitched the hair canvas into place, shaping it as I went. This step took up the most time, but it gave the lapel such a nice shape. For my first attempt at a self-drafted tailoring project, I’m very proud of this little jacket.
The wrap vest used the same front and back pattern pieces. I added overlap to both front pieces and adjusted the armscye to give myself a little more room. I faced it with bias binding and had my little vest in under three hours.
And that’s the project! I really love how this project turned out, and I’m glad to have added the skirt and blouse to my daily wardrobe. There is one more Tolkien-centered project coming up, so stay tuned for that. Until next time, dear reader.
Yours sincerely,
Madeline
