COSTUMES
1870S VICTORIAN BUSTLE GOWN
INSPIRED BY DOCTOR WHO'S SECOND DOCTOR
MAY 2012
This costume was part of a group contest entry organized by Laura Ulak for the Costume Con 30, 2012 Science Fiction and Fantasy masquerade. The title of our entry was "All the Whos in Whoeville" with a premise of each Doctor being transformed into a female from either the Victorian or Edwardian Period. Naturally, our skit had a humorous twist at the end, we were joined by the 12th "Who" emerging from the Tardis - Cindy Lou Who!
Our group won a "Judges Choice" award for our presentation, and I was awarded at the Journeyman level for "Best Female Tailoring."
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| Victorian Bustle Dress | Victorian Bustle Dress | Victorian Bustle Dress | Costume Con Awards |
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| All the Whos in Whoville Judges Choice Award Costume Con 30 - 2012 |
"All the Whos in Whoville" skit on You Tube
Reference Photos
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| 1876 Fashion Plate |
Second Doctor |
Second Doctor in "The Five Doctors" |
The Second Doctor's Painted Recorder | The Second Doctor's Recorder | The Second Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver |
FABRIC: Lightweight black wool suiting, and vintage black/gray/ivory plaid wool. The skirt was flatlined with cotton sateen. A black muslin inner facing was added to the hem of the skirt. The bodice was flatlined with cotton twill, and the sleeves flatlined with black muslin. The bustle puff was flatlined with cotton organdy. The chemisette is made of ivory cotton batiste. I couldn't find a blue/gray plaid so bringing in pale blue for the shirt was not going to work well. The Second Doctor is also known for wearing white/ivory shirts with some of his other costume variations. The bow is made of polka-dot tie silk.
SKIRT PATTERN: I used the 1874 Day Dress skirt pattern from page 33 of Patterns of Fashion 2 by Janet Arnold. I added quite a bit of width to the center back panel. I modified the apron from Truly Victorian TV208 1870 Trained Skirt Ensemble. The back bustle drape is a small heavily modified version of Pattern 26-e from Period Costume for stage and Screen 1800 -- 1909 by Jean Hunnisett. I knotted the fringe tassels on the ends of the apron tabs using silk yarn.
BODICE PATTERN : Truly Victorian 460 1885 Bustle Cuirass Bodice. The sleeves are taken from Truly Victorian 428 1880 Jacket Bodice. I drafted the collar. The reason behind using the 1885 cuirass bodice pattern as opposed to the 1879 pattern was because the back of the jacket required a full enough cut to fit over the bustle. The shape of the 1879 pattern was cut for natural form, rather than a bustle so it would not have worked. There are examples of the Cuirass bodice seen as early as 1874 when bustles were still being worn. (Example: 1874 wedding dress page 32 of Patterns of Fashion 2) I may have had to extend the shoulders outward a tad to be more in line with the shoulder shape in the 1870s.
CHEMISETTE PATTERN: Truly Victorian 104 Bustle Era Collars and Cuffs - Collar N. Although these patterns are designated for late bustle (1880s) it worked well for the Doctor. A ruffled collar just didn't seem right (If I were the Third Doctor I would have gone with ruffles!)
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| Laughing Moon 100 Chemise | Truly Victorian 101 Bustle | Truly Victorian 101 Bustle | Costume Con Awards |
UNDERGARMENTS: I wore a Laughing Moon Victorian corset (Pattern #100) underneath the bodice, along with the Laughing Moon Chemise (Pattern #100) The bustle is Truly Victorian 101, using the ruffled overlay. I scaled the pattern between size D and E and now believe I should have used E because the weight of the wool really flattened out the shape and size of the wire cage. (in fact, I may consider switching to a lobster tail Tournure which may give better support to the back, but I've read is very hard to sit in) I'd hoped to eliminate the need for a petticoat, but the skirt does not flare out at the hem line the way it should, so I may eventually add Truly Victorian 170.
ACCESSORIES: I purchased a wooden recorder on ebay and added a green tassel. I ran out of time to paint the recorder, but there is one documented instance of the Doctor playing a plain wooden recorder. I used a silver colored Energizer LED pen light for the sonic screwdriver (removed the clip from it that read "energizer") and pinned it to my waistband with a chain as a fob.
