All posts tagged: 1800s

Spencer jacket & petticoat, France, circa 1815, Jacket- cotton plain weave; skirt- cotton plain weave with linen net and cotton plain-weave appliques, LACMA M.2007.211.15a-b

Rate the Spencer & Skirt

I’ve had a very busy week, with teaching and patternmaking and talking, which is why there have been no posts between last week’s Rate the Dress and today’s post. Luckily I had this week’s garment for rating all picked out! I hope you enjoy studying it as much as last week’s wedding dress. P. S. Welcome to new raters! PLEASE read the note at the bottom of this post. Last Week: an all-lace Edwardian wedding dress Last week’s frock should probably get a bonus point for breaking the 50 comment mark! If nothing else, you certainly found it interesting. There were three distinct comment groups: 9s, 7s, & 4s. And only one person rated it a 10! With so many unimpressed raters, the total came in at… The Total: 6.4 out of 10 Not a popular choice with many! This week: an Empire era spencer & petticoat This week’s Rate the Dress continues last week’s white and lacy theme for the bottom half, with a petticoat trimmed with linen net and appliqued lace, and goes dark …

Regency Ladies Reading

Published by The Dreamstress

Fashion plates, like fashion magazines (and some corners of instagram…) today, sell not only aspirational fashions, but also aspirational lifestyles. There is a series of Costume Parisien fashion plates, stretching from the 1790s to 1820, that shows an fashionable lifestyle that I can very much see myself ascribing too… I call it Regency Ladies Reading*. 1810-11 was by far the high point of the style. The fashion illustrator hit on a post he liked, and built numerous outfits, all modelled by ladies intent on their literature, around it. *Somewhat inaccurately, because the fashion plates originated in France, and some predate the English Regency. I suppose I could call it ‘Empire Ladies Enlarging Their Minds’….

Rate the Dress: Red & White Regency (with shoes!)

Published by The Dreamstress

It’s entry #2 in my series of ‘Rate all the Party Dresses’. This week we’re going back in time 210 years, and rating a formal Regency gown. It’s a particularly exciting rating, because it also includes the shoes worn with the dress. Last week: a bright orange silk and embroidered net party frock from 1916 The reviews for last week’s frock were a very happy surprise. I was afraid many of you would find it too bold and outrageous – but just one did. I’m always delighted when you love a dress, and even more so when I’m really not sure you will. (of course, it would be terribly boring if every one of you just adored everything, so don’t worry if you don’t!) The Total: 9.5 out of 10 Definitely a belle of the ball dress! This week: an 1800s dress – and the shoes to match I found the bare footed mannequin that last week’s dress was displayed on rather disconcerting, so this week I picked an evening gown where we know …