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Robe à l'Anglaise, 1785–87, French, silk, Metropolitan Museum of Art, C.I.66.39a, b.jpg

The Inspiration behind the Aidah Gown

We know many have you have already guessed the main inspiration behind View B of the Aidah Gown, but what about all the other things that went into the pattern?  Here’s a look at the inspiration and research behind the Aidah Gown!

Image shows the front page of a sewing pattern, with front and back views of an 18th century Italian Gown with pointed and tabbed front, and a teal banner reading "The Aidah Gown, 1775-1790"

The Aidah Gown pattern had its origins in the same research that gave rise to the Angelica Gown pattern.  We knew we wanted to make an Italian gown pattern, and we knew we wanted it to be really good, and really good begins with LOTS of research.  We began by looked at extant Italian gowns in private collections and museums.  We also assemble huge inspiration boards of items from online databases, noting details and similar design and construction elements.

And then we realised that there are so many options for Italian gowns that there was no way to include them all in one pattern.

So I organised things into spreadsheets, noting pattern cuts and techniques.  What elements appear together often?  What elements never appear together?

At the same time we tested.  What processes and techniques really work well together?  What combinations are very tricky to do.  How did they even do things like the tabbed bodices?

Breaking things down like this helped us to figure out what should be in the Angelica pattern, and what should be in the Aidah, so each pattern gave you a lot, was a completely distinct pattern, and each worked as beautifully as possible.

Here are the publicly shareable Italian gowns that inspired the Aidah…

The Aidah Gown pattern is available as a digital download from ScroopPatterns.com, and as a paper pattern from Virgil’s Fine Goods.

View A:

This gown was one of our primary inspiration pieces for View A.  It has all the elements: the moderate front point and wide front neckline, and the two panel back and lower squared-off back neckline.   

Isn’t the fabric spectacular?  I live in hope of finding something similar to make an Aidah with…

This silk gown at LACMA also features spectacular fabric, and also features the front point shape of the Aidah:

We also looked at some extant gowns in collections that we can’t show you, as well as every available published resource of Italian gowns.

View B:

Many of you will have already recognised the primary inspiration behind View B:

Robe à l'Anglaise, 1785–87, French, silk, Metropolitan Museum of Art, C.I.66.39a, b.jpg

Robe à l’Anglaise, 1785–87, French, silk, Metropolitan Museum of Art, C.I.66.39a, b.jpg

This pink and white striped satin gown is wildly popular in the historical costuming community, and that no surprise.  It’s gorgeous!

We also looked at:

Dress, 1780s, The Kyoto Costume Institute

And:

And:

Gown featured in 'The Texture of My Wardrobe' on display 2019-2020, museetdj@jouy-en-josas.fr

Gown featured in ‘The Texture of My Wardrobe’ on display 2019-2020, museetdj@jouy-en-josas.fr

The primary back inspiration for View B, with those beautiful straight seams that point down the back in a V, is this gorgeous gown, also from the Met:

This gown is has the side seams of the Angelica Gown.  If you wanted to replicate it exactly you could mash up the two patterns (Sewstine did a GORGEOUS recreation when she tested the Angelica Gown).

Interestingly, 1976.146a, b, shown behind the yellow gown, like the Aidah, does not have side seams:

We also looked at the back of this gown in the V&A:

And this gown which was sold by Augusta Auctions:

Closures:

The Aidah Gown has two fastening options: pinned closures and hooked closures.

It’s very hard to research closures on 18th century garments from museum images.  Gowns of this age are very fragile, and conservators often build interior supports to hold the gowns closed, and to distribute the stress of display as evenly as possible across the garment.

So our research on closures was based on looking at extant garments in collections, and on document extant garments in books.

Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion 1 shows an Italian Gown described as “a polonaise in cream silk” (it’s not a polonaise – Arnold used the term incorrectly) with hooked fastening on Page 37, and patterned on Page 36.

Arnold has another example of an Italian Gown, this one described as an ‘open gown with matching petticoat’ that fastens with hooks and loops on page 40, and patterned out on Page 41.

Although it’s not an Italian Gown, Patterns of Fashion 6 shows a Sack Gown with a hooked front on pages 88 and 89.  It even has alternating hooks and loops.  The book also contains other examples of garments that fasten with hooks in various configurations.

Sleeves:

The Aidah has a two-piece sleeve pattern, in contrast to the Angelica’s one piece sleeve.  This is less common on extant Italian gowns, and more likely to show up on later gowns, but definitely existed.

A two piece sleeve made it easier to include a long-sleeved option.  There are very few extant examples Italian Gowns with long sleeves.  The gown sold by Augusta Auctions which also helped inspire the back seams is one of the few examples.  The long sleeves may be one of the things that was altered in the 1790s, although the gown also has signs of further, even more recent, alterations.

Although there isn’t a lot of evidence for long sleeves on Italian gowns, we included them for people who want to recreate film and theatre costumes with long sleeves, and for cosplayers, and so to make the pattern easier to alter to recreate some of the many fascinating transitional styles of the 1780s and 90s that do have long sleeves.

Although it’s not a dress, we did look at this jacket and petticoat from Colonial Williamsburg.

Woman’s Jacket and Petticoat worn by Ann Van Rensselaer, c. 1790. Albany, NY. Textile- India. Cotton chintz, mordant painted and dyed; tabby linen lining. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. 1990-10

Woman’s Jacket and Petticoat worn by Ann Van Rensselaer, c. 1790. Albany, NY. Textile- India. Cotton chintz, mordant painted and dyed; tabby linen lining. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. 1990-10

Jackets tend to have different construction techniques to gowns, but the pattern shapes of this jacket are similar to an Italian gown, just with a longer jacket.

Woman’s Jacket and Petticoat worn by Ann Van Rensselaer, c. 1790. Albany, NY. Textile- India. Cotton chintz, mordant painted and dyed; tabby linen lining. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. 1990-10.jpg

Woman’s Jacket and Petticoat worn by Ann Van Rensselaer, c. 1790. Albany, NY. Textile- India. Cotton chintz, mordant painted and dyed; tabby linen lining. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. 1990-10.jpg

The Aidah could easily be used as a base pattern to make a similar jacket, right down to the long sleeves.

And, of course, we hope lots of people use the long sleeves for more cosplay inspired looks!

The Aidah Gown pattern is available as a digital download from ScroopPatterns.com, and as a paper pattern from Virgil’s Fine Goods.

Mourning the Lost Soles

I was talking with a friend today about historical costuming, and how what’s important to me in events and making isn’t how fancy an event is, or what era things are, it’s who I’m doing it with.

Because when you’re with the right people, even the simplest thing is a joy, and even the dumbest thing is hilarious.

Case in point: when you’re out for a walk in Medieval costumes, and you only get halfway down the (admittedly very long driveway) and someone’s shoe decides to bite the dust.

Medieval mischief thedreamstress.com

And then, like an absolute chucklehead, instead of getting her to stand there awkwardly on one foot while someone runs back to the house for backup shoes, you suggest that you should form a litter and carry her back to a handy log to sit on.

(The log was a couple of hundred meters back.  This was not a good idea).

Medieval mischief thedreamstress.com

Medieval mischief thedreamstress.com

It was, however, a hilarious idea.

Medieval mischief thedreamstress.com

Medieval mischief thedreamstress.com

We did NOT make it all the way back to the log.

Medieval mischief thedreamstress.com

And then, when we gave up, and new shoes were fetched, Lindset and Fil and Kezia decided to pose like a Medieval manuscript and hold a little ceremony for the deceased shoe.

Medieval mischief thedreamstress.com

Medieval mischief thedreamstress.com

 

Medieval mischief thedreamstress.com

They looked very sombre and elegant, right up until I commented, “Ah, are we mourning the lost soles then?”, and everyone lost it.

Medieval mischief thedreamstress.com

 

More about this day, with lots more photos, here

More about my dress here.

@anettveg Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

The stunning Aidah Gown tester makes!

It’s the most wonderful part of a pattern launch: time to show off the tester makes!

Image shows the front page of a sewing pattern, with front and back views of an 18th century Italian Gown with pointed and tabbed front, and a teal banner reading "The Aidah Gown, 1775-1790"

Everyone loves seeing tester makes, and it’s no wonder: they show what the pattern looks like styled in a whole range of different ways, on a whole range of bodies, in different fabrics.  There are always testers who do fabulous things with the pattern that never even occurred to me!  So inspirational 💛

Pattern testers also ensure we deliver you the best possible pattern.  They ask about instructions that are confusing.  They provide feedback on the fit on a whole range of bodies.  Based on their input we’re able to smooth off any final rough corners, and adjust the fit to make sure it will work for as many people as possible straight out of the packet – and that we have good fit and alteration guidance for when it doesn’t.

So we are so, so grateful to the people who are willing to pattern test, because their input is invaluable.  Thank you so much!

The Aidah Gown testers were fabulous and helpful, and made the most stunning collection of makes.  Here they are!

View A:

@Costuming_Drama

Noelle shares the most fun & beautiful historical and cosplay makes (Victorian Iron Man!) on her IG account.  She’s made a lovely version of the Scroop + Virgil’s Fine Goods Amalia Jacket pattern too.  So we knew she’d provide valuable feedback about our fit consistency – AND make a gorgeous version of the Aidah!

@Costuming_Drama in the 1775-1790 Aidah Gown in white floral on brown, scrooppatterns.com

She did indeed, and even picked one of my favourite Colonial Williamsburg reproduction prints for it!  Noelle doesn’t know this, but we almost ended up being dress twins, right down to the pink petticoat, but I ended up going with a different fabric for the sample.  So when I say she has excellent taste, I really mean it!

@Costuming_Drama Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Extra special bonus: you can follow along with her Aidah making journey on her Youtube channel!

@Costuming_Drama Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Noelle made a Size 46, with additional length in the bodice.  She chose the pinned-front fastening, slight train, and 3/4 length sleeves for her Aidah.

Caitlin @aladyofquality

I adore a good floral and play with stripes, but there’s something about the simplicity of a single coloured fabric that really shows off the gorgeous seaming and style lines of the Aidah Gown.

Caitlin @aladyofquality in her Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Caitlin  utterly fabulous red wool gown is a spectacular example of this.  Her back seams are just perfection, and the crisp front and back points are divine. And the colour? It just GLOWS!

Caitlin @aladyofquality in her Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Don’t you love her very wide tucker ruffle, and beautifully ruffled petticoat?  And how they pop against the white!

Caitlin @aladyofquality in her Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Caitlin sewed a size 42.  She used a View B back with the View A front.  She chose the floor-length hem, elbow length sleeves, and pinned-front fastening for her Aidah.

Caitlin’s beautiful photos were taken by…

Mem of @starandscissor

Do you know that thing where you’ve seen a fabric and thought it was fine, but didn’t make your heart go pitter-patter, and then someone makes something spectacular out of it, and suddenly you desperately need it?

Yeah, that’s me and this @colonialwmsburg print and the incredibly beautiful View A Aidah Gown Mem with it!

Mem @starandscissor Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

The V the stripes form at the front! The interplay between the bias front stripes, the horizontal sleeve stripes and the vertical back stripes! The way the flowers spiral out at the centre of the back! The way the stripes work with the skirt pleating!

Mem @starandscissor Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

It’s all perfection ❤️❤️❤️

Mem @starandscissor Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Mem made her Aidah in Size 50, blended down to a 48 in the waist, with Size 52 sleeves.  Her sleeves are elbow length, and she chose the pinned front fastening.

Cecilia of @cecilia_theresa_design

Can you say STUNNING?

@cecilia_theresa_design Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

(I mean, obviously I love this, it’s yellow!)

@cecilia_theresa_design Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Cecilia trimmed and styled her Aidah for the second half of the 1770s, with taller hair, and pinked and ruffled trims that are just perfection.  She also added pick ups to the skirt – something we’ll be showing you how to do as a blog tutorial shortly.

@cecilia_theresa_design Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.comI’m so in love with the whole look, and want one just like it for me!

Cecilia made a Size 34.  She chose elbow length sleeves.

Carissa of @carissawakefield

Carissa is another tester who mashed up the pattern views, pairing a View A front with a View B back.

A dark haired woman in an 18th century dress with fitted bodice sits on a sofa with wide blue stripes. Her dress is blue floral on white, and her petticoat is dark blue.

The end effect is lovely, and makes full use of her beautiful floral fabric.

@carissawakefield in the Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Be sure to check out her instagram for lots of gorgeous detail photos of the dress!

@carissawakefield in the Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Carissa sewed a size 36, graded down to just under a 34 in the waist.  She chose 3/4 length sleeves, and the trained version.

View B

Anett of @anettveg

Anett made the most gorgeous View B without the cutaway front – and took the most fabulous, fun photos of it!

@anettveg Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

There’s a hot air balloon!  And spinning!

@anettveg Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Anett was a wonderfully helpful tester, and even changed her making plans to help us test a view that we needed coverage for.  She’s also planning to make an Aidah in pink striped fabric, like our primary View B inspiration garment…

@anettveg Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Annet made a Size 44 with 3/4 length sleeves, with no train.

Blair of @goodwiveslinens

Blair has tested Scroop + Virgils Fine Goods patterns before, and we know she’s a wonderful pattern tester: detailed and thorough, and not afraid to tell us about things that didn’t work for her.

So we always love having her be part of a test group, and when she told us what she wanted to do as an Aidah Gown test make, we knew we had to include her!

Blair @goodwiveslinens Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

What did she want to do? Re-make her Aidah from one of her first 18th century gowns, made back in 2010!

Blair @goodwiveslinens Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

I think you can easily see that the re-make has been a resounding success – it fits beautifully, looks absolutely charming, and is perfectly 18th century both in its styling, and in its philosophy!   It makes me so happy that we were part of the journey of this beloved gown, keeping it wearable for (hopefully) another 12+ years!

Blair @goodwiveslinens Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

She also did another very cool thing – mashing the Aidah gown up with the Angelica Gown laced front.  It’s just another example of how the two patterns can be used together.  Check out her reels to see the whole making process.

Blair made a Size 38 View B without the cutaway front and with elbow length sleeves. Her fabric is from Den haan Wagenmakers, and her hat is a pattern she’s just released!

Erika of @chesapeakecostuming

Erika had a little delay with her photoshoot, so we only get to see in-progress photos so far – but those are very interesting too!  Look at all that pretty pleating…

Erika of @chesapeakecostuming Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Her gown has the sweetest story.  It’s a inspired by the very first historical costume her mother made her.

Erika of @chesapeakecostuming Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Isn’t that the sweetest thing ever?

Erika made View B with the cutaway front in size 50 chest, 44 waist, 44 sleeve.

Lucy of @sewsanah

This may not be what she intended, but there’s something very fairytale-esque about Lucy’s Aidah.  It’s almost 1780s Sleeping Beauty, with the pink petticoat and the floral print like climbing roses.

Lucy of @sewsanah Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

I have a huge soft spot for Sleeping Beauty because of Robin McKinley’s Spindle’s End, and I can definitely imagine Peony in this!

Lucy of @sewsanah Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Lucy made a Size 30.  She chose the cutaway front and long sleeves for her Aidah.  She also chose to cut her tabs so they are almost twice as long as the pattern, for a very dramatic silhouette.

Dee of @the_needle_woman

Dee originally had a different fabric picked out for her Aidah, but went for this lovely pastel striped cotton at the last minute, as she felt it would be perfect for a Georgian pastoralism – and the sweltering summer we’ve been having down in the Southern Hemisphere.

@the_needle_woman Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

She’s absolutely right! I feel cool just looking at the photos of her. The delicate shade is so light and refreshing, and the stripes add just enough interest to the gown, and highlight the slight V at the centre front of the bodice.

@the_needle_woman Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

I particularly love Dee’s photos, because they are actually somewhere I’ve been!  Dee took her photos in the the Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne at the 1755 cottage owned by Captain Cook’s parents.  The cottage was disassembled and brought to Australia in pieces in the 1930s and reassembled in the gardens. They even took cuttings from the ivy growing on the house in England and planted them!  It’s slightly bonkers, but does mean we can visit an 18th century English house in a city that didn’t exist when the house was built.

@the_needle_woman Aidah Gown scrooppatterns.com

Dee made a View B without cutaway matched with a View A back, with elbow length sleeves.  Her Aidah is Size 44 bust, 40 waist, 42 sleeves

 

Gorgeous, all of them!  A huge thank you to these testers for all their work and feedback.  💛

Get your Aidah Gown here!