Restyling of the 1808 Regency Dress

       

The plain green muslin gown which had been made up at the last minute as a second walking gown for the Jane Austen Festival 2004 never looked very pretty. It was a very practical, if chilly, dress that I would not mind drapping in the mud. However, my 1810 Turkey Red gown works very well for that purpose and is much prettier anyway, so, as I needed a new gown for the Ball at the Assembly Rooms in September, I decided to dramtically re-style it into a gown worthy of gracing the dance floors of Bath. A Change of Plan: Having come up with a new and much more glamorous idea for the ball, by making an overdress for a dress I already have, I decided to instead where this to last weekends Jane Austen Fayre at the walled gardens in Basingstoke. This was a very succesful event, though my parasol was needed at all times!

The parts of the gown I needed to alter were:

- sleeves
- bodice
- hem
and I needed a
- ridicule

Sleeves

I decided to improve the sleeves by gathering them on three strips of ribbon running from vertically down the sleeve to create little puffs. Very similar to this:

Bodice

I improved the bodice by sewing a strip of white riddon down the center front, gathering the top half of the bodice onto it, giving a V shaped neckline. I also atatched a waistband.

Hem

As I have always thought the hem came ot a little short, I decided to loop it up into scallops and wear the gown over my plain white underdress.

Accessories

I also decided to make a ridicule worthy of being seen at a ball to go with the gown. I shall make this out of the white silk I bought at Macclesfield Silk Museum a while ago and embroider it with silk thread.

Pictures