I just love the costume worn by actress Lily Elsie in the 1907/8 theatrical production of The Merry Widow in London. This amazing ensemble was created by Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon working under her professional design name Lucile. She was one of the first British high fashion designers and was quite a character in her own right. Here’s a link to a blog post where you can read more details about Lily Elsie, Lucile, and the Merry Widow costume.
For this project, my goal was to create a Merry Widow inspired costume in the style and flavor of the image below. To catch the essence of Lily Elsie’s look, we started with a ready-made corset-style top. The assiut covered corset was the only part of my ensemble that we stitched for this look. The corset-top was a previously owned costume piece, but you can find similar items on Amazon. If I were going to make another one of these today, I would start with a style that’s currently available.
The Inspiration
Postcard of Lily Elsie as the Merry Widow by Foulsham & Banfield,
published by Rotary Photographic Co Ltd, bromide postcard print, 1907
I worked with my friend, costume maker Misia Rockte and together we strategically place assiut motifs between the bones of the corset. Most of the motifs were scraps and leftover pieces from a variety of projects I was building for my book, The Cloth of Egypt: All About Assiut. Available on Amazon and Etsy.
Although I don’t have any images of the corset embellishments during construction, we used standard thread and simple hand sewing applique techniques to apply the assiut motifs. Using a ready-made corset as the foundation made this project quick and affordable. I was very happy to use up a bunch of scraps, but if you needed to purchase assiut for a similar project, plan on using half of an assiut shawl to get this level of motif coverage.
Completing the Look
Once the corset was completed, three uncut assiut pieces finished the look. Under everything, I’m wearing a simple black skirt and tank-top. Around my hips, I draped a large ornate modern assiut shawl and pinned it into place. To capture the essence of Lily Elsie’s large double-brooches, we added a bracelet and a necklace that gave the same shape and visual weight.
For sleeves, we used an assiut shawl in the lantern style. I quickly tacked this shawl in four places to create a tube. It was tucked at the tops of my shoulders to keep the sleeves in place. Over my chest, I tucked a white assiut triangle and let the beaded embellished edge drape over the top of the corset. This echoed the white lace top that Lily wore under her corselette. If I were going to wear this garment for a long period of time, I would hand stitch these pieces into place, using sturdy thread and big stitches that are easy to remove. Since we were just staging a photo, tucking was perfectly fine.
The final step was to load up with rhinestone jewelry. Earrings, three necklaces and a pair of bracelets complete the look. Ultimately, the corset wasn’t REALLY my size, so there are no back shots and it went on to another home. Someday, I hope to get a corset-top that really fits me well to create a full ensemble to really wear. I’m keeping my eyes peeled for better jewelry to capture the Edwardian theater look.
I really enjoyed using assiut scraps to create a new look. I currently have a fairly good-sized bin of scraps. Perhaps I’ll get one whipped up before the end of the year!
Happy Costuming!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
February 10, 2018
