Split front elizabethan gown

[Rowan MacD]

  For that front:
   Should I just layout the basic bodice pattern then trace how wide I want the 'V' to be?
  Should the gap go all the way to the waist; or about 1/2 way up?

[gem]

I think you'd just leave it unhooked about 1/3 of the way down.

[Rowan MacD]

 *hand in the air*  Another question!
    What is the best method of closure for the front of the bodice?  just hooks and eyes or a corset busk type thing? 
  If hooks and eyes-what type should I use?

[gem]

I have a couple Victorian/fashion corsets with busks, and they are a *massive* PITA to get into (one always pops open just as you get all the others hooked, and then it's a wrestling match to undo the others to get the one that popped, and really a matter of luck as to when/whether they're all going to get hooked together...) Skirt hooks are pretty sturdy--I've done up a bodice with those, and it withstands corset-level strains. But ordinary hooks & eyes are perfectly period. JoAnn carries a bunch of different sizes; just choose ones that look reasonable for the weights of your fabric. More hooks are better (they're like lacing rings that way), and they're less likely to come unpopped while you wear them if you alternate them, instead of doing them like buttonholes--all the hooks on one side, all the eyes on the other. I *know* that's a theatrical/movie costuming trick, and don't know if it's historical at all, but it's darn handy.

This is an excellent article on hooks & eyes on historical bodices (both period & recreations):

http://historicalsewing.com/attaching-hooks-eyes-to-edge-of-bodice

[isabelladangelo]

As Gem stated, busks are very much a 19th century invention and weren't used.  They also weren't too terribly common until the later half of the Victorian era as well.

Eyelets.   If you do the spiral lacing method, you won't be dealing with quite so many.  Make a full bodice out of lining fabric only - with boning at the front and the eyelets.  Then take the fashion fabric, roll and sew down the front opening of the bodice.  Attach this to the lining bodice at the top.  At the front, tack down only at three or four points between eyelets, around the front edge (whipstitch the fashion to the lining, basically, but only at three or four points.  This will allow the lacing to be hidden but you can still lace it up easily by yourself. 

[Rowan MacD]

   Thanks for all the info!

   Isabella- I'm not going for HA, just quick, secure and non fussy. 
   I make hand sewn eyelets only where they will be seen (like on my black gown); and I'm not a fan of front lacing bodices on noble gowns anyway. 
   My corset is already a front lacer, so I think I would rather have hooks, ala a theatrical trick, to avoid yet another layer of cord.
   I'm not entering a contest, I just need the closure to do it's job, lay as flat as possible, not bunch up, and not come unfastened.  Heck if I though t a zipper would work; I'd use that.
   I think a set of closely spaced hooks may do the trick....since I corset to the correct size, my gown does not have to 'squish' anything, but it does need to stay closed. 

[isabelladangelo]

There's plenty of evidence to show that stays weren't used until the 1590's.  The dresses themselves held the individual up.  Corsets are another 19th Century invention.  The word was first used in the very late 18th c to describe the short stays in France.   

However, hooks and eyes were used in doublet bodices as well as some partlets.   Also, as you aren't going H/A, I'm not sure why you'd be concerned about what style it was...  but, eh. 

[Rowan MacD]

    I just like the split front, as something a bit different looking from what I have been doing, and Elizabethan-ish is good enough.
    I'm not teaching anyone about 16th century fashion.  I'm more concerned with being able to dress myself somewhat easily without help, since my Hubby has arthritis in his hands.
    My question was concerning the best method to close the front of the bodice, maintain the smoothness of the closure, without pulling and bunching (like you get if you don't place boning along the eyelets on a wench bodice) while reliably keeping it closed.
   I don't know if this style of bodice even does fasten in front-it may just be sewn together 1/2 way up, and laced in the back.  I've never made one in this style before.