I was inspired to make this dress by the channel 4 series 'Regency House Party'. I have always had a great weakness for Jane Austen and especially Pride and Prejudice (Oh my ~ Mr Darcy!), but the appearance of this series alerted me to the fact that my costuming did not have to remain the realm of the SCA correct period of pre 16th century!
This gown was made using a pattern that a friend of my mother's donated - Folkwear's Empire Dress pattern. The pattern claims to be based on historically correct information and to be honest I don't really know enough about the period to know if it's true! However, I abstained from any strongly unperiod practices such as the use of elasitc (suggested as a short cut in the pattern)
This gown is a trial run, made in very cheap poly cotton. It has turned out incredibly see-through, (which I suppose is period up to a point!) However, when I make a mock-up of a pattern it always seems like such a waste of energy and materials not to do anything with it, and so this gown has been turned into a rather fine nighty!
Plans for the future:
In the long term, I want to make correct regency period stays to acchieve the correct regency 'shape'. I have heard that the one in Jean Hunnisett's book covering the period 1800-1900 is very good, but am also looking at perhaps purchasing the Mantua Maker pattern. I have two gorgeous materials tucked away which I intend for regency dresses. One is a cotton baptiste in white, printed with small circular green and pink rose motifs. The other is some white silk. Both these were kindly donated by my mother during one of her clean outs! I've also just seen the most wonderful sketch of a spencer jacket and am dying to make one!
Links:
I have been poking around the net to find other regency costuming diaries and info regarding garments, especially undergarments. Here are some sites I have found helpful:
- Jessamyn's Regency Costume Companion
- Elegant Musings: Regecncy stays
- Katherine's dress site: Regency Era
Jessmyn's site has a fantastic (huge!) range of resources and links. Miss C has put a lot of work into her regency stays. And Katherine's regency section is full of beautiful gowns (including some original regency clothing) and has a great page on undergarments.