From Historical Dress To Pop Princess | TRANSFORMED
V.BIRCHWOOD aka Vasi wears historical clothing every day. The 26-year-old YouTuber hand stitches her clothes, drawing inspiration for the designs from her antique clothing collection. Vasi decided to start wearing historical fashion as it combined her love of art, culture and history with her desire to know where her clothing came from. She said: “I decided that I would like to participate in the slowest fashion possible. Literally with a needle and thread - it doesn’t get much slower than that.” Today Vasi is bringing her look into the 21st Century as she is transformed into a Dua Lipa-inspired look. How will she feel about an outfit that follows the trends? How will her friend react to seeing her in modern clothing for the first time?!
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PeopleTranscript
00:00 I'm a daily wearer of historical fashion and I'm also a YouTuber.
00:04 I decided that I would like to participate in the slowest fashion possible,
00:08 literally with a needle and thread, it doesn't get any slower than that.
00:12 I do dress like this every single day, this is my style all the time.
00:15 I'm really excited though to see how I look in modern fashion, it's been so long since I've worn it.
00:20 I'm being transformed into a Dua Lipa inspired look.
00:23 I think the look is actually made for Vassy.
00:26 I think the look is going to look really good on her.
00:28 I'm curious to see what will happen and I'm curious to see how my friend is going to react as well
00:33 because she's never seen me wear modern clothing before.
00:35 So, what do you think?
00:36 So I've been sewing for about two and a half years
00:49 and these are some things that I've currently been working on, some things I've been mending.
00:53 This is an item I finished maybe like four months ago
00:56 and it's based off of one of the antiques in my collection.
00:59 This is a late Victorian cape and it took me probably about 40 or 50 hours to hand sew.
01:04 So I started wearing historical fashion three to four years ago
01:09 and about two and a half years ago I started sewing my own clothing.
01:12 I got really interested a long time ago in where my food came from
01:16 so I also wanted to understand where my clothing came from.
01:18 And also my love for art, culture and history was a big factor as well
01:22 because I guess I could have chosen slow fashion in a modern sense.
01:26 I used to wear a lot of vintage and thrifted clothing for example
01:29 and I tended to lean towards more Victorian-esque silhouettes.
01:33 So it was always something that I found to be very aesthetically pleasing.
01:37 I tend to wear a lot more British working class fashion these days
01:41 so centred between the 1740s to the 1890s mainly.
01:45 I have an antique clothing collection that I keep for study and not for wearing
01:49 so I keep everything in archival boxes.
01:51 So this piece is the original of what I made that cape off of.
01:55 People tend to think that black was mourning only
01:57 but actually black was a very stylish colour just like it is for people today.
02:00 We just try and recreate garments as close to the originals as we possibly can
02:05 based off of whatever we're able to research.
02:07 So this dress that I'm wearing I hand-stitched it myself
02:10 and it's an 1860s style wrapper dress.
02:13 It would have been worn by all classes of people
02:15 and this wrap here is called a Sontag
02:18 and it was knitted by one of my friends
02:20 as well as my hairnet which was also knitted by my friend.
02:23 So today I'm going from historical dress to pop princess.
02:27 I think that Dua Lipa and I have some similar features
02:31 so that's part of why I was so open to being transformed into her look.
02:35 I feel excited about the transformation today
02:37 and I kind of have no idea what to expect.
02:40 Wow, this is totally different.
02:46 It does definitely make me think of Dua Lipa
02:48 because she wears this neon green a lot
02:50 so I think that that's very much her vibe.
02:52 Very cool.
02:53 It's interesting because this is something
02:55 I probably would have never chosen for myself
02:57 when I did wear modern clothes
02:58 but I think it'll be fun to wear something different
03:01 that I've never worn before.
03:02 I think I'm the most nervous about showing more skin
03:05 than I usually do because normally I'm dressed from neck to ankles
03:09 except maybe in 18th century clothing it's a bit lower
03:12 and your boobs start to stick out a bit more.
03:15 Hey!
03:17 Hi!
03:18 How are you doing?
03:18 I'm Lucy.
03:19 I'm Fossey. Nice to meet you.
03:20 Nice to meet you.
03:22 Yeah, I think it's going to be such a stark contrast
03:24 to her current look, yeah.
03:26 Something completely out of her comfort zone.
03:28 Right, come on.
03:30 All right.
03:31 Lucy, let's get started.
03:32 Okay.
03:33 Right, I think we might have to take this mirror down though.
03:35 I'm not nervous, I'm actually really excited.
03:37 So I'm going to take everything off.
03:40 Okay.
03:41 I'm going to start from scratch, okay?
03:42 [Music]
03:52 Do you have any historical makeup icons that you look to for inspiration?
03:57 I really like looking at 18th and 19th century portraits
04:00 because the use of blush is usually really interesting.
04:03 I think the look is actually made for Vassy.
04:05 I think the skin tone complements the colours that we're going to use
04:09 and I think she's got really nice features.
04:12 So what tends to be the public's reaction to your sense of dress?
04:17 Generally, people are pretty nice about it.
04:20 I would say online it's maybe a different story.
04:22 And I've had some kind of scary experiences in fact
04:25 and it's quite sad to me that people can't just let others be happy
04:28 and enjoy what they're doing.
04:30 People often think that I believe that all women should be modest
04:33 and that's the opposite.
04:35 I actually think that every gender should wear whatever they want to wear.
04:38 Right, so my makeup looks complete.
04:40 So if you go put on your outfit and then we'll do the hair.
04:43 [Music]
04:47 So who are you revealing your look to later?
04:50 I'm going to be revealing it to my friend Sam
04:52 and she's never seen me wear modern clothing before
04:54 so it's going to be very, very interesting to see what her reactions will be.
04:58 So the makeup is all ready.
05:02 I'm just going to pack away and then we'll do the grand reveal.
05:05 Vassy, how are you feeling about seeing yourself?
05:07 I'm actually feeling quite calm and excited about it.
05:09 [Music]
05:10 One, two, three.
05:12 Oh my god!
05:15 [Music]
05:21 I feel like a doll, if that makes sense.
05:24 You look like a doll.
05:25 Oh, thank you.
05:26 [Laughter]
05:27 And what aspects do you like the most?
05:29 I like the jacket, I think.
05:31 And I think jeans never really work on me
05:35 so it's not something I normally choose for myself
05:37 but I think for Dua Lipa's look it makes perfect sense
05:40 because this is totally her style.
05:42 I do like it.
05:43 I think that it really would suit someone that has this sense of style
05:46 and that they would really enjoy wearing it.
05:49 I guess because my style is historical for me,
05:51 it's just kind of odd feeling.
05:53 I like the eye makeup too, it's really cool.
05:55 The colour suits you.
05:57 Thank you.
05:58 Yeah, I love this colour.
05:59 I think it's a great colour.
06:00 Beautiful.
06:01 Thank you.
06:02 I'm feeling really excited to reveal the look to Sam
06:04 and I can't wait to see what she's going to say about it.
06:07 I would describe Vasi's look as historical fashion
06:10 but it's much more than that.
06:12 It took me a while to get to know this
06:13 but it's actually more of a way of being in the world
06:15 and slowing down and connecting with things.
06:18 I'm really excited to see Vasi's new look
06:20 but also a bit nervous.
06:22 I'm not sure if I'm going to like it.
06:24 [Laughter]
06:32 Do I look like a different person?
06:34 You do! Oh my gosh, I would not recognise you on the street at all.
06:38 That's so funny.
06:39 Whoa, that's insane.
06:41 It doesn't look like you at all.
06:42 How does it feel? Does it feel weird?
06:44 I was saying it feels like I'm in a different person's body.
06:46 It's beautiful but I don't think I'd like you to keep any of it.
06:49 I like the eye makeup but I don't know how I'd mix it
06:51 into my historical fashion.
06:53 Yeah, it's very bold.
06:54 It'd be interesting to see if you could merge that together.
07:00 Is this how you were dressed when you were younger?
07:02 No, definitely not.
07:04 Does it feel more freeing not wearing all of the layers?
07:07 No, it actually feels hotter and I find that I feel a lot more
07:10 comfortable with all the layers of historical fashion
07:13 just because of all the breathable fabrics and everything.
07:16 It feels like I'm in someone else's body and as if I'm
07:19 playing a different person for a day rather than it being me
07:23 but I'm ready to eventually go back to being me.
07:26 I thought that Sam's reaction was exactly
07:29 how I maybe expected it to be is that she wants me to be
07:32 who I am rather and this definitely isn't me.
07:35 I thought it was a really fun experience and I would definitely do it again.
07:38 I think that it's important that we sometimes step out of our
07:41 comfort zones and do something a little bit different.
07:43 I think sometimes I actually have these thoughts like,
07:45 "Oh, maybe I should just wear modern clothes again because
07:47 then society will accept me more and I'll have to deal with
07:49 a lot less s*** all the time."
07:51 But I actually realized that all of it's worth it for me
07:55 because I feel so much more connected to what I'm wearing
07:57 than if I'm wearing something like this.
07:59 [music]
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08:05 [music]