Hi Friends!
Over the past few years in my free time, I've been translating an instructional article from a German magazine called
Der Bazar, which was published in the 1800s. This particular article, from 1861, explains how to make fancy bows ("rosettes") to put on women's slippers, shoes, and boots to make them fancy! Rosettes and cockades were worn to decorate items like shoes and belts for ladies, but also worn as brooches, memorial pins, or even political pins!
Here is the original (the text is on both pages; the pictures that go with the article are on the 2nd page):
My translation is below, for those of you who want to try it!
Most sincerely yours,
~ Sarah
With 10 illustrations
With this rich selection of
rosettes we offer our readers the opportunity to do justice on their own to the
elegance required by fashion in regards to one's chaussures.
We provide the rosettes in
various levels, as well as their size and their original accoutrements -- from
the simple little cockade to the trimming decorated with lace and pearls as
befits the costly velvet mule, the bridal boot, or ball shoe. A few of the
originals shown in the given illustrations are only fitting for this type or
that type of footwear due to their style, as pointed out in the note given with
the individual descriptions when appropriate; no footwear is out of the
question for the use of the remaining rosettes. For indoor slippers or mules,
as well as with boots that one wears to the theater, in the carriage, or with
evening clothing, fashion dictates that rosette decorations are a color that
contrasts with that of the shoe, yet is in harmony with the rest of one's
toilette. With walking boots, though, choose trimmings that do not contrast.
No. 1 Rosette á la Pompadour
Materials: 90-100 cm black satin ribbon, 2 cm wide.
The ribbon specified above is
basted into very small pleats and is set in a spiral onto a 4 cm round
foundation, starting at the outside of the foundation in rows spaced as closely
as possible, so that the pleated lines of ribbon stand up.
This rosette can also be made
larger, in an oval shape, in which case the foundation is cut in the
appropriate shape and, naturally, more ribbon is also used.
No. 2 Cockade Rosette
Materials: 40-44 cm black satin ribbon, 1 cm wide; one
small steel buckle.
Lightly singe the ribbon, and
tack onto a 3 ½ cm round foundation in 3 or 4 rows in a spiral; slide the
buckle decorating the middle onto a smooth piece of the same ribbon.
No. 3 Rosette Impériale
Materials: 70 cm black lace, 2 ½ cm wide; 77 cm
currant-red wired chenille; 19 middle-sized foam beads. *Translator's note:
Schaumperlen is unclear. It could be foam beads or foam pearls. I mostly see
this word used to describe seafoam, so I'm not sure what kind of bead it's
referring to.*
Pleat the lace, and baste in 3
tiers in a spiral onto a 3 cm round foundation. Fasten 8 chenille loops between
the first and second lace tier. Every loop should have a black foam bead in the
middle. Fill in the center with a tuft of chenille loops, the outermost and
innermost of which should likewise be decorated with beads.
No. 4 Rosette for Morning Shoes and Mules
Materials: 67 cm brown satin ribbon, 4 cm wide.
In terms of the arrangement of
the 6 individual bows and both of the ends that comprise the trimming, we refer
you to the illustration, since for this rosette, looking at it is the surest
explanation. The bows appear to be held together in the middle with a loosely
attached short ribbon loop, but you can pull this smooth through a wide curved
buckle to give the whole thing the true character of a shoe rosette.
No. 5 Rosette, Noeud Papillon
Materials: 40 cm black satin ribbon, 1 cm wide; 20 cm of
the same ribbon, 2 ½ cm wide.
To arrange this rosette, form 4
individual bows of a 5 cm ribbon length each, and tack these in a half circle
to the foundation. The inner decoration
is a cockade made of the narrower ribbon, done just as in No. 2.
No. 6 Boot Rosette
Materials: 140 cm brown satin ribbon, 2 cm wide; a steel
buckle.
The long, narrow shape of this
rosette makes it suitable only for decorating boots. Cut the foundation for it
in a tongue shape, 8 cm long, with one end 4 cm wide and the other end 2 cm
wide, and rounded on both ends. Begin on the narrow end and attach the ruffle
in two single rows, so that each forms a half circle. On the third row, which
follows the second in the same shape, continue the ruffle straight away
continuously around the wide end of the foundation and then towards the middle
in spiraling oval rings, as far as it reaches. The empty space remaining within
the ribbon decoration is covered with the buckle, drawn upon the remaining
brown ribbon. The illustration will truly enlighten the understanding of the
arrangement described here.
No. 7 Rosette, Noeud Papillon
Materials: 40 cm ponceau satin ribbon, 4 cm wide; 15 cm
black lace, 3 cm wide; a small steel buckle. *Translator's note: ponceau
appears to be a bright red-orange.*
Make 4 individual bows from the
ribbon, each made from a 5 cm length; additionally, make 3 shell-shaped leaves,
just like those given in the description of No. 11 — and arrange both sets on
the foundation cut in the shape of the rosette — the 4 bows in a half circle on
the outside, the 3 leaves in the middle, and the two separated by the black
lace. The point where the 3 leaves meet is covered by the buckle drawn onto a
piece of the ribbon. When placing this rosette, the straight flat side is put
toward the top.
No. 8 Rosette for Morning Shoes and Mules
Materials: 78 centimeters gray taffeta ribbon, 2 to 2 ½ cm
wide; 70 cm black lace of the same width.
The foundation of this rosette
must be 6 ½ cm long, 4 cm wide, and in the middle, in the shape of the rosette,
somewhat narrower. Form 12 individual bows, each made from a 5 cm length, and
tack them to the foundation in threes on either side, in horizontal rows and
alternating with a crinkled black lace. Fill the gap between these trimmings
with 2 small bows set opposite, one pointing up and one down, and cover their
attachment with a flat ribbon drawn through a curved buckle.
No. 9 Lace Rosette
Materials: 66 cm black lace, 2 ½ cm wide; a small piece of
wide currant-red ribbon or silk cloth; a steel or bronze button.
Cut a 3 ½ cm round disc from
strong paper, cover it on one side with lining gauze, and on the other with the
colored silk cloth. Divide the black lace onto it in 2 pieces, one 23 cm long
and one 43 cm long, and baste each piece in very small pleated folds. On the
back, halfway up the width of the lace, draw a fine black silk thread through
each pleat, to hold them in evenly in place. Set the longer of the two
trimmings around the edge of the round piece, so that it extends beyond the
edge by 2 cm all around. Pull the shorter trimming together into a rosette and
place it in the center of the red backing, so that it it only appears through
the airy lace background.
No. 10 Rosette with Tassels
Materials: 78 cm dark blue taffeta or satin ribbon, 2 ½ cm
wide; 33 cm black lace, 3 cm wide; 7 cm very narrow black lace; 2 small blue
silk tassels; one small steel buckle.
To make the 15 petals of the
rosette, cut the blue ribbon into 5 cm pieces, leaving a 2 cm piece to secure
the buckle. To make each individual petal, do the following: Fold both corners
of the upper long edge down to the middle of the lower long edge, in opposite
directions, so that you form a triangle. Turn the triangle over, and fold both
corners from the sides down and somewhat overlapping, so that they extend
beyond the bottom edge of the triangle, and so that the top forms the dahlia
petals you can see on the illustration. Trim the points that overlap and point
down, and fold the lower side corners to the back, so that the the petal gets
narrower toward the bottom. Form all the petals in this way, and then decorate
every one of them with 3 steel or gold beads in the top of the opening, which
you string together and fasten with one vertical stitch. Baste the petals in 2
open circles onto a round stiff foundation you have cut from tulle, gauze, or
linen, which has a diameter of about 3 cm, and on one side, following the shape
of the rosette, it must be bent and flattened. The arrangement of the petals
can be clearly seen on the illustration. Gather the wider lace and surround the
rosette with it, by basting the lace to the back of the stiff foundation all the
way around. The two tassels can either be thread-covered or made of creped
silk. Fasten them in the middle of the rosette such that they hang down through
the open side of the surrounding petals. Finish the entirety by taking the
narrow lace, pull it together into a small rosette, tack it to the remaining
space, and then slide the small horizontal buckle onto the piece of ribbon set
aside for this, and fasten it on top. This rosette should be set upon the boot
or shoe in such a way that the tassels fall toward the toe.
No. 11 Rosette à Coquille
Materials: 88 cm white satin ribbon, 2 ¼ cm wide; 38 cm
white blonde, 2 ½ cm wide; a small steel buckle.
The shell-shaped leaves making up
this rosette are folded individually from an 8 cm piece of the ribbon given in
the “materials”. Lay the folds from the middle of the bottom edge diagonally
toward the corners of the top edge, in 3 folds, first on one side, then the
other, which simultaneously form the veins of the leaf and have to reach over
one another somewhat in the middle of the leaf. Due to the folds in the middle,
the leaf obtains a length of about 3 cm. Trim the bottom to form a straight
line.
Cut foundation of this rosette in
the shape of a heart, 4 cm tall and 5 wide, and then stitch down the white
blonde along the outside edge in folds. On top of this, first place the 7 outer
leaves and then the 3 inner leaves as seen in the illustration. A leaf also
covers the center, and place atop it the buckle drawn onto a piece of ribbon in
a contrasting color. Instead of a leaf, you can take the ribbon that is through
the buckle, pull it tight, make a small bow, and stitch in the middle with the
buckle. When placing this rosette on a shoe, the pointed side of the rosette
should be on the lower side.
