I am Morgan Donner, a self-taught maker of historical garments. I originally started sewing as a teenager, taking in my several sizes too large t-shirts, and hemming pants that always seem to be too long. My first proper project was a vaguely medieval gown from a pattern. It somehow ended up several sizes too large. Isn’t that always the way it goes?
Since those early endeavors, I’ve learned how to draft and drape my own patterns, seek out resources to research and study extant historical pieces, and approach dress creation with a sense of curiosity and wonder. I still love the rush of slowly realizing how a specific seam was put together, or finally getting the proportions correct after stubbornly creating countless mockups.
I love researching new time periods and places, and I hope you will join me as I continue to discover the past through creation in the present.
I think it's probably much more different for women than men, especially with Victorian as it's such a long period. There's only so much you can do with a suit. I definitely wouldn't go for any of those periods with lots of crinolines and huge puff sleeves for women's clothes.
I’ve always gardened with a nice canvas or duck or denim apron. The pockets hold a lot and the apron prevents soil from dropping down the front of your pants. It’s common in my home country, France
Thanks for showing your creative process. Look forward to possibly viewing the rest of the Mr Morgan Donner Victorian ball design as it becomes available.
I use Milanote to organize my ideas for sewing projects. I have particular categories like dream sewing project, thrift flips and quilts. I didn’t realize how many ideas I’ve been sitting on and what basic staples I probably should make until I put them on them up on the app. I struggled to put Pinterest pics up there but maybe using it on a laptop with a browser might help with that.
Thank you for sharing about Milanote, Morgan! I'd been trying Notion but not clicking with it, but Milanote feels a bit more friendly for my brain! I'm a budding ceramicist and using it to round up pottery wheel research, as well as artist deep-dives for inspiration for my work. Thank you!
I've just started working on my masters' thesis and I think that milanote tool might actually be really useful...couldn't you have uploaded this like 2 days earlier 🤣 I just had to turn in a research log and it would have been perfect!
Thank you for sharing your process. I stumbled across your channel while looking into girls Tudor dress last year. My daughter was playing Shakespeare’s daughter in a school production and I needed to supply the costume. I’m not a seamstress by any stretch of the imagination, but found myself completely obsessed with researching every possible style, but most importantly, what I could cobble together with my skill set (the thought of the nylon fancy dress costumes made me shudder 😂). I got halfway through the project, but then was interrupted by school holidays and various other issues (mainly no space to make without other people needing the space) so it remains in pieces. I really wish I could have finished it, but yes, I did resort to the nylon costume that was breaking after two performances 🙄😂 x
This video was perfectly timed, as I am about to try Milanote for costuming Hello Dolly... which starts next week! Thanks so much for the great handy hints.
I had to do this recently for a doll's outfit. The trouble is in Victorian times children were photographed in their best outfit. It's difficult to find day-to-day outfits in children's photos.
I have a google doc called "Search the collections" that's just a big list of links to the search pages of various museum websites, which is very useful! Also there are a couple of free pdf copies of The cut of Men's Clothes by Norah Waugh floating around online, which should turn up pretty near the top of a google search.
I feel like im the only person to see the guys head on a platter on the table a little before the halfway point......... Or is it just because im watching this when I'm tired?
I think I'll look into Milanote. I've got costume ideas coming and haven't written a lot down. Behind the scenes with the costume department is one of my favorite extras to watch! ❤
This reminds me of the old days, before the internet and cable TV. I was trying to make a prarie style bonnet to go with a costume for school and couldn't remember how wide the brim should be. I was looking in the TV guide for Little House on the Prairie, but it wasn't on until later that week. I couldn't think of another resource 😂 oh how things have changed
We use Milanote for our Product design agency - brainstorming visual design for websites and online apps! I also personally am using it right now for a family and personal history project - organziing lots of family photos, my school stuff, etc. The family is able to add their photos to it as well and am seeing things from other family members Ive never seen before (like a great photo of my dad and my uncle when they were little my cousin had!)
My favorite haircut on you was the 70’s feathered hair at 35:29 suits you so well! A bit of a classic wave/curl and layers frame your face and the volume goes with your personality. Second was actually the Betty boop pixie cut.
Another resource that goes back further than you might think is department store catalogues. Some are scanned and online, while you may have to go to the library for others. It’s a great way to get an overview of everything from underwear to outerwear for a particular time.
This is exactly how I do this too I feel SO validated haha, thanks :D I'm always nagging people to go down as many rabbitholes as possible, and to also search for things related to what you're looking for. I'm always shocked when I run into people who make one really specific search and then just... stop. But research is a skill too, Im going to share this video SO much in the future.
Thank you for this video. I'm horrible at research but I also hadn't thought of doing it that way. Usually I try till I get frustrated then start bugging the kids to figure it out for me. They lecture me about keywords but eventually they do help.
