Friday, July 19, 2013

1810's Regency Purple Dress

1820's dress 002

1820's dress 017

1820's dress 015

1820's dress 003

From Me:

I bought this dress way back in 2008. I originally posted it on the old site here. If I remember correctly, the bust is about 32.5" and the raised waist is 27 which is why it refuses to fit my dress form. The purple print is one of my favorites and I finally have gotten around to recreating it on Spoonflower.
Purple Regency

As you can see, it is period for late Regency. I'm sure it could be used for some later applications as well as fabric was reused constantly. Feel free to ask questions; I can make up answers well. ;-)

9 comments:

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    1. It's one of my favorites from my personal collection.

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  2. The dress is wonderful! I'd love some insight into the dating of the dress, if you don't mind. Since I don't know any better, I glance at this and see piped seams, a wide neckline, short cap sleeves and attached bell shaped under-sleeves, and I think "1840's!". I've seen teen garments with waists that short through about 1850. What are the tell-tale signs that this dress is Regency?

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    1. Short capped sleeves:
      http://damesalamode.tumblr.com/post/4686316393/ackermanns-repository-walking-dress-november#notes
      http://damesalamode.tumblr.com/post/4235753570/la-belle-assemblee-austrian-hat-and-pelisse#notes
      http://damesalamode.tumblr.com/post/3791795182/ackermans-repository-walking-dress-dec-1817#notes


      Piped seams: My 1826 dress has them and the purple dress here is maybe 10 years earlier at the most. There is also this purple dress/coat from about the same time period as my dress with a TON of piping. Piped seams were really popular.:-)

      The sleeves are actually straight, not bell shaped. It's simply the way they are hanging in the picture - the upper arm is all scrunched up but I think I pulled the fabric to show off the lace detail at the cuff. Yeap, I did You can see the upper part of the sleeve is all wrinkled but I have my hand in the lower part of the sleeve - making it looked bell shaped when it really isn't. It's just badly wrinkled because I was lazy about fixing that before pictures. ;-)

      This dress at the Met has a very similar neckline to the purple dress. This one also has a similar neckline although the waist is much higher.

      The sleeves of my dress would probably been bound around the cuff with a bit of ribbon in the 1810's/1820's. The dress shows signs of being reworked (probably making it more in style for the 1820s) on the inside and it might have been "in transition" when our seamstress gave up on the project. The hooks and eyes still look new even though the thread holding them doesn't.

      I hope that helps a bit!

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    2. Oh! I forgot the bodice on this dress is almost exactly like the one on my purple dress.

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    3. Thank you! The links were an education unto themselves. I really appreciate the insight!

      -Alison

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    4. Not a problem! The reason I lean a bit more 1810's on this than 1820's is the skirt. In the 1820's, the skirts were smooth in the front for the most part. You start to see skirts that look almost modern to our eye - bias cut, cut close to the body from the high waist to the hip, ect. Since this is still a bunch of fabric gathered to the waist, it's probably earlier.

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  3. You have been a great help to me in identifying fabrics, colors, and eras of dresses, and I recently wrote one blog on Fabrics and Photos. Today I wrote another one pointing out that YOU are one of my greatest treasures in educating myself. :) http://timetravelingincostume.blogspot.com/2013/07/more-on-fabrics-photos-to-educate-your.html
    Val

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  4. this dress is very nice.
    to get fabric on demand from weaveron textile.

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