Bedell

Sometimes all you have is a sketch. In this case it was a black and white drawing of a ladie's suit from a Spring 1914 Bedell catalogue I have in my collection. I got lucky, there was a back view, too. Bedell was, I guess, a finer department store, they actually had a twice yearly catalogue. The company had 4 locations in New York City, Philadelphia and Newark. The text next to the drawing revealed that the colors available back then where black, navy, tan, paprika and mignonette green. Knowing what colors they offered put more life into the drawing for me. I happened to find a bargain suiting for this project whose color said "Chilli" on the bolt. Yeah! The process of creating the actual outfit involved many hours kneeling, standing and sometimes cursing in front of my dressform, using inexpensive muslin to imitate what I saw in the picture and ultimately form a pattern for me I could use to cut my fashion fabric. Since there was no actual garment to measure from, I did much guessing when it came to proportions and the collar shape alone almost drove me bananas. You can't buy closures anymore the way it was used on the front of the jacket, so I got some interior deco cord and made one myself. The top layer of my skirt is longer than in the sketch, because it has a walking split in the back. The Bedell model was a classic hobble skirt with no opening.




	Spring 1914 Bedell Ladies suit....

Sometimes all you have is a sketch. In this case it was a black and white drawing of a ladie's suit from a Spring 1914 Bedell catalogue I have in my collection. I got lucky, there was a back view, too. Bedell was, I guess, a finer department store, they actually had a twice yearly catalogue. The company had 4 locations in New York City, Philadelphia and Newark. The text next to the drawing revealed that the colors available back then where black, navy, tan, paprika and mignonette green. Knowing what colors they offered put more life into the drawing for me. I happened to find a bargain suiting for this project whose color said "Chilli" on the bolt. Yeah! The process of creating the actual outfit involved many hours kneeling, standing and sometimes cursing in front of my dressform, using inexpensive muslin to imitate what I saw in the picture and ultimately form a pattern for me I could use to cut my fashion fabric. Since there was no actual garment to measure from, I did much guessing when it came to proportions and the collar shape alone almost drove me bananas. You can't buy closures anymore the way it was used on the front of the jacket, so I got some interior deco cord and made one myself. The top layer of my skirt is longer than in the sketch, because it has a walking split in the back. The Bedell model was a classic hobble skirt with no opening.



		It was 95 degrees outside when those pictures where taken last summer and my house does not have A/C. This should explain why my neckline is rather plunging and uncovered.... Because I wanted to expose as little leg as possible but still get away with the walking vent in the back, I opted to make the tunic top of the skirt longer. As you can see it hides most of the leg in the back. The jacket is described in the text as "fetchingly becoming" with "girlish lines" and the " seasons newest adaptation of the Russian blouse". The original fabric for the suit was novelty worsted wool.