Ooooh, girly.

[rivka]

Bill has been kind - or foolhardy - enough to agree to make me another period costume suitable for English Country Dance.

I really should have pictures of my first costume scanned. We found a beautiful long brocade coat at a costume shop, and Bill made me a full velvet skirt skirt and a contrasting brocade bodice and a lace jabot for a blouse I already had. It's an incredible ensemble, but very hot to dance in, with all the layers of brocade and velvet. So this new costume is going to be lightweight cotton.

I've been poking around online looking at patterns and styles. There's probably a 150-year span of history in which these dances were done, mostly the 18th century, but also including the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 19th. Lots of clothing options to choose from.

Empire-waisted dresses were popular during the time period, especially in England, but they really don't suit my figure. I'm finding myself drawn to American Revolutionary War era dresses, which take this basic shape, or the paniered style which is relatively flat front and back but has side hoops. Here are some other pattern examples: a jacketed gown, a short dress which might be more practical for dancing, another shorter dress (the one on the left), and an utterly ravishing example of what a dress can look like when it's finished.

This is going to be such fun.

Comments

Re: Fashion Show...

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Let me know when you get ready to do it, and I'll give you a few tips. The Irish (shinshone) dress is pretty straightforward, and really nothing more than a cold climate variant of the Italian fashion that was popular in the 16th century. The important thing is to include a LOT of material for the skirt. It is gathered to the waist of the bodice, and flares away quickly. One recovered shinshone dress, found in a bog in Ireland, contains some 21 yards of material all told. The woman who wore it might have weighed 100 pounds. (Modern reproductions don't need to be so deeply pleated - and are quite hot if made that way, but still need a lot of fabric if they're to look right.)

Re: Fashion Show...

[jilesa.livejournal.com]

Let me know when you get ready to do it, and I'll give you a few tips.

I'll do that. I'm hoping to be in your neck of the woods in the next few months. If those tips could take the form of helping me draft out a pattern (either on paper or muslin), I'd be most grateful :)