Pictures for A Moonless Night - Chapter 2

My gorgeous banner by the lovely and talented Jaime Arkin

The Second Class Library/Reading Room on Olympic (the one on Titanic was supposedly identical).

Now, to get dressed in the Edwardian era, women had to go through quite a process:

First, we would put on our "combinations" - which as their name suggests were a combination of a chemise and pantaloons.

Combinations (the crotch was left open or "split" to allow women to answer the call of nature - or to us less refined modern girls - go to the bathroom. You just lifted your many skirts and sat down (very carefully) and did your business. 

Then after donning your combinations (or chemise and pantaloons), sometimes you'd need to wear a corset, as Bella does in her new gown. 

Back of a "long line" or Edwardian-style corset

Front of a "long line" or Edwardian-style corset. To clear up confusion, to put a corset on, you unhook the clasps at the front and loosen the ties at the back until you can refasten the front - then the laces are tightened to the proper tightness. And yes, your boobs are flying free and loose - which feels a bit unnerving to us modern gals who are used to wearing bras.

As you can see from the above pictures, the garters for your stockings were attached to the corset, which you'd have to stuff your chemise into, unless you were wearing the newer combinations, which helped eliminate all the bunching.

After fastening your stockings, you put on a petticoat, which not only fills out your skirt, but also eliminates those pesky corset lines from showing underneath your dress.

1905 Petticoat

Now we finally get to put on our gown!

In the story, these are the two lovely dresses I've selected for Bella and Alice:

The red dress is Alice's and the blue one is Bella's - if you look closely on the blue gown, you can see there is a beaded fringe along the top layer, which I've described as "clicking merrily" as Bella walks down the corridor.

Having made the Jump Dress from Titanic, which also has a similar beaded fringe (as Rose is running down the deck in the movie to jump off it, you can hear the beads clicking as she runs), I can tell you from experience that they do indeed "click merrily" as you walk.

My Hubward and I dressed up for his senior prom, in the replica Jump Dress I made (which took me the better part of four months to make). Note the beaded fringe - it cost more than the rest of the materials for the dress, no joke. But it was worth it. :-)

Now that I've bored everyone to tears with my endless knowledge and trivia on Edwardian fashion...

On to the other pictures for the chapter!

Esme's gown - this is dated to 1911. I love the ostrich feather embroidery, simply lovely!

The Second Class Dining Saloon (artists' illustration). The biggest difference in the First and Second Class Dining Saloons on Titanic and other ships of its day were the fact that they stretched the entire width of the ship, which allowed them to let in natural light, giving them an airy, open feeling. Also, everyone from each class could sit down to dinner all at once, rather than having to select from several seating times.

Dinner in Second Class on the last night of the voyage. Anyone else wondering what the heck a "cocoanut sandwich" is? The rest of it sounds yummy!

Reproduction Second Class Dinner Service - I want a set of this for my china (minus the White Star Logo).

To answer another question I've received several times:

Will this story end with Happily Ever After? Well, that all depends on whom you wish to have a HEA, doesn't it? Will Edward and Bella (and the rest of her family) make it off the doomed liner? Yes. I will not have anything like Jack and Rose (who TOTALLY could have shared that piece of debris, thank you very much. It was all a matter of balance...) and my Edward and Bella will have a HEA. Now as for the rest of the passengers? I'm not rocking the boat (I crack myself up) and changing history - the boat still sinks, y'all.

I think that's all for now - happy reading!