1810 Printed Cotton Day Dress

       

1810 Walking Dress

This is the first regency gowns I made. As a Jane Austen fan, I decided it would be nice to have a dress from that era, and one dress from the 1995 Pride and Prejudice stood out to me. Not having known an awful lot about authenticity at the time, there are many things which I now regret about this gown. For example the shape of the skirt is created entirly through gores, not gathering of pleating as an original would have done. The neckline should also be filled with a chemise for day wear, and I now wear one with this gown.

I have worn this gown to a number of events including the Bath Jane Austen Festival.

Undergarments

See Regency Underwear for an overview of the underwear worn under all of my regency dresses.

Design

As I was unexperienced in Regency patterns I settled on using Butterick's 6630. However, I never like to follow patterns, and so ended up making quiet a few changes! The sleeves, for example, are completely different to the onesin the pattern and the back was re-drafted to allow for the period-correct button fastenings. I also decided to raise the shockingly low neckline a little, for the modesty required in a day dress (a chemisette could be used to fill in whats left).

   

I wanted the fabric to be quiet dark so it would not show the dirt. I had found a wonderful colour known as Turkey Red and though it would be perfect above right. I found this lovely print at my local fabric shop and thought it was perfect above left. It is thicker than the original printed sheer muslin

The Gown

The gown went together quickly and easily. A few more changes were made to the skirt and bodice shape as we went, but nothing drastic.

Accessories

To go with this dress I bought a beautiful little pair of ivory satin slippers and a beige shawl. Since then I have also made a knitted reticule and straw bonnet which would work well with this outfit. A pelisse would also be the perfect partner for this dress in colder weather.

Pictures