Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Plans For The 1840s Ballgown

I am in desperate need of a ballgown. I already have all the undies for about 1840-1870 and since I mildly dislike dancing in hoops and would rather not make myself six more petticoats, the 1840s it was!
I went to the library to look at some old copies of the Godey Lady' Book that they had and I found this wonderful dress:

I just so happen to have about 15 yards of  super wide lace from a planned bustle dress that never came to be so I knew immediately that this dress was the one. As far as color goes, I'm thinking a nice spring green like this one from Renaissance Fabrics:

Here's how the swatch looks with my lace over it:

I'm not the hugest fan of the ribbon decoration so I was hoping to replace them with roses, even though ribbon is more economical. I plan to debut the dress at the PEERS Twelfth Night Ball, and with all luck I can have the dress itself finished by Christmas.
Patterns for 1840s evening ware are extraordinarily hard to find. At a recent Gaskell Ball I received a tip from a lovely lady in an early 1840s dress that the 1830s pattern from Truly Victorian works very nicely with modified sleeves.

An Introduction

Hello!
I'm Kaila, and this is my blog. I'm a costumer, history enthusiast and an appreciator of all things Victorian.

The Grand List of Projects (will be updated):
1840s Outfit for Dickens
Black Bustle Dress Restoration
1840s Green Ball Gown