Tag: The Kirsten Project
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The Kirsten Project | Tiered Skirts of the 1850s
Fashion Plates from Top Left to Right: Le Bon Ton 1856, Les Parisienne 1859, Journal des Demoiselles 1854, Le Bon Ton 1856 In planning the style of dress to make with this edition of the Kirsten Project, I knew I wanted to do more than the standard drop shoulder, high neck, full skirt and sleeve…
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The Kirsten Project | Fana Sweaters of Norway
Up next, another Norwegian influence (hint: all of Kirsten’s winter look is distinctively Norwegian!!): her woolen cardigan. This style of knit is called Fana and was very popular in the 1930s and, no surprise, the 1980s, when Kirsten’s collection was created. From a 1983 article by Ruth Robinson in the New York Times, “The Fana,…
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The Kirsten Project | 1854
After months of planning and research, designing and sewing, I am so excited to finally share my finished costume for The Kirsten Project! The goal of this project was to take one of my childhood passions – the pioneer life of my favorite character, Kirsten Larson – and interpret her through a historical lens. I’ve…
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The Kirsten Project | Hair and Hat Inspiration
Little Lie-A-Bed’s Sad Breakfast by carl larsson 1900 One of the most iconic parts of Kirsten’s character are her signature looped braids. My hair never got long enough to make it work as a kid, so I’m determined as ever to make it happen now. So why looped braids? I got my first answers to…
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The Kirsten Project | Förkläde (Apron)
One aspect of this project that I didn’t foresee finding a lot of inspiration was Kirsten’s red and white striped apron. However, once I started digging I uncovered that this particular item of clothing has a deep connection to the traditional clothing of the Dalarna region of Sweden and is still worn today as folk…
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The Kirsten Project | Kjolsäck (Loose Pocket)
Like Kirsten’s apron, her spoon bag or loose pocket, called a kjolsäck, is a link to her Swedish origins. These are only a very small sampling of pockets from the Digitalt Museum, so if you’re interested, I really encourage you to see the amazing array of kjolsäck. Another source of the history of the kjolsäck…
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The Kirsten Project | The Art of Carl Larsson
Harvesting the Rye, Carl Larsson 1905 Washer Woman, Carl Larsson Thanks to a tip from the Kirsten series illustrator, Renée Graef, I have been spending a lot of time looking at the work of Swedish artist Carl Larsson. I’ll be sharing more of his pieces as they apply to different portions of my project, but…
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The Kirsten Project | Dress Inspiration
dress, late 1830s, metropolitan museum of art, daguerrotypes of women and girls in mid 19th century dresses The real root of The Kirsten Project has been for me to try to untangle the mystery of how each aspect of Kirsten’s costume came together and to make my best guess on what Pleasant Company used as…