Feature Friday: Lineage Garments
Lineage Garments, this month’s feature, blends historical and fantasy elements to create beautiful and lush stays and bodices. Lila, the creative behind the brand, has long been enamored with historical sources and has found a way to honor that love through her work.
“Historical stay making is the basis of what I do, with modernized designs and patterns,” she explained. “Stays in particular are just, to me, the most perfect garment design. Both on the body and off, the engineering is so masterful and a joy to look at. When I made my first pair of historical stays, my mind was blown by the way the odd shapes fit together to create something that fits the body so elegantly. I can’t think of a more beautiful shape, honestly.”
After her mother taught her to sew at a young age, Lila’s creative journey spanned making her own clothing to ren faire costumes to even opening her own business creating intricately beaded belly dancing costumes. But then her childhood love of historical fashion called her back. “About five years ago I somehow fell into the historical costuming rabbit hole and it felt like home!” she shared. “I was obsessed with the Little House on the Prairie books as a child and drew endless pictures of the women’s clothing as described in the books. The concept of corsets was very intriguing to me, as were their 19th century boots with all the buttons! I also loved 18th century court dresses and would draw fancy ladies with huge panniers. So coming back around to historical fashion seemed like a natural progression.”
It's this early love that drives her creative work now. “I’m forever inspired by the late 17th and 18th century’s fashions. Those eras gave us such incredible designs and my personal favorite silhouettes,” she continued. “I’m also deeply enamored by European folk costumes from the 18th and 19th centuries, the details in embroidery are incredible and I love the racer-back design many of the bodices have. I save historical portraits, photos of extant garments, as well as the work of some modern designers as well. Alexander McQueen, Thierry Mugler, and John Galliano, in particular. I love seeing designers use the basic flat front cone shape of 18th century stays as a base for their pieces—once you recognize that shape you realize how ubiquitous it is in modern fashion which furthers my theory that stays really are timeless, and not confined to the past.”
But that creative spark isn’t confined to images alone. Using upcycled and second-hand materials is a big part of her business model. “Ultimately my inspiration comes from many places, nature and the seasons heavily influence what I do, as do simple things like thrifting a beautiful fabric score and just wanting to use it!” Lila added. “Bringing together different textures or elements into one piece is one of the most rewarding aspects of creating for me. I find most of my materials second hand at estate sales, thrift stores, eBay, etc., and it can be like putting together a puzzle to bring together that fabric with this trim with that color ribbon. When they all fit together well it’s so fun!”
She went on to explain just how important minimizing environmental impact is to her creative process. “Sustainability and fighting fashion waste is a huge factor to me in my business. As I said earlier, most of my fabrics are from second hand sources, which keep them out of landfills! I do buy some fabric new, in particular the cotton coutil I use since I can’t always find good strength fabrics second hand. But overall it is a low-waste endeavor, and it’s important to me that we continue to spread awareness about the negative impacts of fast fashion. For example, there are currently 92 billion tons of textile waste globally every year which is a horrific statistic. Wearing the clothes we have for as long as we can (and then mending them and wearing them longer), buying ethically produced fashion, buying second hand, and just overall buying less clothing are all helpful things we can do.”
This means small batch production and seasonal collection releases. “For Lineage Garments I generally will make one piece in each design in a size that either I or a friend can model, and then I offer that design as made to order in other sizes too. So I always have pieces that are ready to ship, mostly in sizes large and XL, and I offer those same pieces in custom sizes made to your measurements as well,” she explained. “I always love working with people and it’s such a special feeling to create something my customer will treasure and wear for a long time. That’s what slow fashion is all about!”
You can find all of Lila’s offerings on her website, www.lineagegarments.com, and you can follow her on Instagram and TikTok (@lineagegarments) for even more gorgeous inspiration!