1912 Egyptian Revival Gown with Scarab Belt and Pith Helmet

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A 1912-style gown. The underdress is a sandy golden yellow color, with an Egyptian geometrical pattern on the fabric. It has a shallow scoop neck, short sleeves and a long, tube-shaped skirt that falls to the floor. It is gathered slightly above the waist with a wide gold sash, decorated at the front with a large brooch depicting a jeweled blue scarab holding an orange sun and adorned on both sides with a multi-colored wing pattern. At the bodice and at the hem are an Egyptian fan pattern done in small rhinestones. Over this is an overdress made of white lace patterned with Egyptian geometrical patterns and lotuses. The overdress is like a shawl over the bodice, opening at the front to show the fan pattern at the neckline, and going under the belt. It covers most of the underskirt, and opens in the front to show the fan pattern and the drape of the underskirt. There is a pith helmet to go with it, which is about the same color as the dress, but slightly darker and with a more utilitarian texture. Around the crown of the hat is a line of rhinestones.So, this one requires an explanation. A 1912 gown won my poll handily, and then I did a contest to determine who would direct its coloring and patterning. 13 people entered, including my husband Brian, who posted the first comment. Brian is a big Animal Crossing fan, and one of the things you can do in that game is catch different kinds of bugs. He caught a wharf roach, which he warns me, and I will pass the warning on to you, not to google it unless you like really ugly looking bugs. Then one of the animals who lives in his village said “So I’m thinkin’ of basing a design on a wharf roach.” This tickled his fancy, and he produced this image. He also gleefully informed me that, should he win, he wanted a wharf roach themed dress.

I chose the winner by random number using random.org. I just made a list of everyone in the order they’d posted, assigned them a number and hit the button. Brian was #1, and as I hit the button, I thought “Not 1, not 1, not 1.”

He was kind to me, though. He didn’t actually order me to make wharf-roach themed lace. Instead, what he said he wanted was an Egyptian-themed dress with a scarab beetle on it. I was actually happy about this, because as it happened, I had seen some lovely Egyptian Revival 1912 gowns when drawing the sketch for this one. He left it mostly up to me, but said that he wanted it to be a sand color, and he specifically wanted a pith helmet. In his imagination, this dress belongs to the least practical Egyptologist in the world. She’s spending her inheritance looking for lost tombs. That’s right — she got her money from her mummy! (Blame Brian for that one.)

Now that this contest is over, let’s move on to the next one!

poll by twiigs.com

Next week, you can look forward to a mermaid tail! Until then, follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for site updates, previews and thoughts on what I’m doing lately. If you enjoy my work, I’d also appreciate your support through Patreon.

11 thoughts on “1912 Egyptian Revival Gown with Scarab Belt and Pith Helmet”

  1. Love it!…Wishing for the app so I can see it on the doll. At this rate I may have to go get colored ink for my printer!

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  3. I love the Egyptian revival gowns of this period, so I was so happy when you decided to do one. Though… I’m not sure about that hat… :) The scarab on her belt is stunning and the lace is fantastic.

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  4. I have to say when I read that your husband was the winner I thought “Oh no what will he come up with?” But I have to tell you it turned out great!!! Love the colors! =)

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  5. Love this dress! And while I didn’t vote for a wedding dress because I couldn’t pass up the elf option, I think you’re wedding dress designs are always awesome. (I still love, love, love the Evil Queen one and the short vintage-y lace one that you did for the Ivy and Grace dolls.)

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  7. Liana:

    This is a monumental work.
    I’m glad you don’t have to keep it under wraps any longer.

    I remain,
    Heiroglyphic’ly yrs,

    Brian

    Reply

  9. Hi Liana,
    I just now checked this out. This gown would be just perfect for Elizabeth Peabody, a fictional character who, along with her archeologist husband, explores Egyptian tombs and solves mysteries during this time period. The books are a fun read.

    Reply

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