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Regency Costuming??? (Off-topic)

Started by Lady Rosalind, April 08, 2015, 10:04:58 AM

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Lady Rosalind

Help!

Does anyone have any resources for patterns for a good, decently accurate Regency/Jane Austin style day/walking dress? I need something by mid-May, and I'd like it to be reasonably accurate, but something I can get into by myself, and works up FAST.

I've looked at lots of pins (thanks, Gem!!!), but the big thing is getting a pattern FAST. I'm willing to pay for a good pattern, I just don't have enough experience with this period to know what's historically accurate, and I don't have a lot of time to mess around and experiment.

I figured that one of you genius seamstresses would probably have a good idea and good suggestions! Because you rock!

This is similar to the style that I want:

http://twonerdyhistorygirls.blogspot.com/2012/01/perfect-pineapple-knitted-regency.html

Pineapple handbag 1800014 by LadyRosalindWoodville, on Flickr

042s8YzL56bR by LadyRosalindWoodville, on Flickr

Any thoughts on patterns???


 

isabelladangelo

#1
I actually sell a pattern for Regency era stays up on Spoonflower: My 790's Regency Stays Pattern  but not for the dresses.  I've been designing my own Regency Era patterns for dresses for a while now.  I did used to use Simplicity 4055 but the neckline is quite high - you'll want to lower that.  Also, for the skirt, just use the length of fabric rather than cutting out skirt pieces.  For the late 1810's/ early 1820's, the pleats were almost all at the back of the skirt (as in the striped dress.  However, for the 1790's (yellow), there some pleats or gathers to the front.  Also, with the 1790's, the shoulders were more natural in placement.  If you like, just look at the Regency tag on either my sewing blog or my Extant Gowns blog for more examples.   

Rowan MacD

#2
http://sensibility.com/blog/patterns/regency-gown-pattern/

This one looks reasonably simple.

  I saw a number of regency fashion plates a couple decades back.
  The main fashion points were the empire waist, slightly shortened, figure skimming skirt  worn with no crinolines, the bousum was gently gathered or smocked to give the impression of fullness.  The inspiration was 'greek goddess'.
  Many females of the avant-garde in the period scandalized the society mavens by 'dampening their skirts' to make them cling cling closer to the shape of the body beneath. 

Actually, Recollections has them ready made, and they are inexpensive-their quality is superior.
http://recollections.biz/clothing/Regency.html

Oh, and these dresses are 'pull on'-no buttons, zips or ties!
Recollections makes most gowns so that the buyer can dress themselves.
What doesn't kill me-had better run.
IWG wench #3139 
19.7% FaireFolk pure-80.3% FaireFolk corrupt

Lady Rosalind

Thank you both!!!!!

I ended up buying the Spencer/Pelisse pattern from Sense and Sensibility, as that would be the hardest to tailor. I think that I may have a pattern at home that could be turned into the gown part.

The undergarments... the longer corset could be modified from my current corset pattern I suppose. The chemise should be easy peasy. I really like the bodice petticoats though, so I may have to make one of those and a chemise. I'll be buying up yards of white muslin tonight and getting it washed and pressed to get started as soon as possible on the undergarments. The gown fabric might take a bit to find, but that's okay, because I've got to make a mock-up first.

operafantomet

Not a pattern suggestion, since you already got that, but if you want inspiration of how incredibly diverse and sometimes utterly loco the 1795-1815 fashion could be, I highly recommend this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Empire-Fashion-Cristina-Barreto/dp/8857206505

Admittedly lots of the comments in the essays made grind my teeth, as they are heading for sensational, for fun facts, for a modern Haute Couture take on things. I very much agree with this Amazon review:

"Any documentation, especially close-up images, of garments of this pivotal fashion period is a delight. However, the text of this book can only be described as lost in translation. The 16 essays or sections, by both Barreto and Lancaster and others in the field of fashion and photography, range from the barely readable to the factually suspect. Many of the essays contain comments that will cause historians of this period to cringe due to the obvious lack of fact checking. Admittedly, the authors are fashion-focused, but one hopes no student will use the text for a term paper."

But the book does a wonderful job in showing just how topsy-turvy the Regency turn-of-the-century fashion was in continental Europe, and it shows both the delight of the Regency and some rather rare post-revolution styles, throughs surviving garbs AND fashion plates combined. It really made me wanna plunge further into the era!

Lady Rosalind

Thanks for the new info! I've been pleasantly surprised at how much I've enjoyed looking at extent garments and the different styles of this era. Definitely an interesting era!

I did decide to go with the undergarments and Ladies' Closet patterns from Sense and Sensibility. I just don't have the time or energy to try to modify a big 3 pattern to be more accurate. I finished a short sleeve chemise last night. I started it on Sunday evening, and spent about 5 hours total. Simple, straight-forward, fits just fine. The only problem I had was with the width of the bias strip for making the neckline drawstring channel. It was just a bit too narrow. I can't wait to get my stays done, and my petticoat, so I can start on the actual gown.

Regency Chemise - full by LadyRosalindWoodville, on Flickr

Regency Chemise by LadyRosalindWoodville, on Flickr

Lady Rosalind

Stupid short stays pattern... I figured I'd use them as a guide for fitting the bust. The interlining is far too big. At least 2-3 Inches too big. I'm going to try taking them it at the side seams tomorrow, to see if that will help, but for now they are in a heap on my sewing table, and I'm out close to 3 hours of work. I'm not sure I can salvage the interlining/mockup, and I think I'm out of cotton drill to cut a new one.

I think I've grown too accustomed to the splendid instructions and measurement charts in Margo Anderson.

isabelladangelo

I take it you are using the Sense and Sensibility one?   It's one of the reasons I created my own pattern up on Spoonflower...

Lady Rosalind

Quote from: isabelladangelo on April 15, 2015, 07:24:50 AM
I take it you are using the Sense and Sensibility one?   It's one of the reasons I created my own pattern up on Spoonflower...

Yes S&S. Frustrating! I am not a small person, but I am proportionate (and a D-cup). My underbust and bust measurements indicated that I needed a size 24. There was supposed to be a 2.5 inch gap at the front, but I had a one inch overlap! It was 3+ inches too large! Plus, it seems like there should be another gusset in the bust, as the cups were far too small for a D.

I'm going to go back to my original plan if I can't make the SS pattern work. Cut out my working elizabethan bodies, slash where needed at the bust and hip, and add gussets. I know those measurements work, and I need the longer stays anyway.

At least my gussets turned out beautifully... Too bad they were useless, LOL!

isabelladangelo

Why do you need the longer stays?  Are you doing post 1820?   

Yeah, S&S isn't meant for the larger gals.   I tried to make her pattern once...it was more like a holster than a pair of stays.   Her spencer and dress patterns are pretty good - you just need to lower the neckline on the dress patterns a lot.

Lady Rosalind

Quote from: isabelladangelo on April 15, 2015, 04:10:45 PM
Why do you need the longer stays?  Are you doing post 1820?   

Yeah, S&S isn't meant for the larger gals.   I tried to make her pattern once...it was more like a holster than a pair of stays.   Her spencer and dress patterns are pretty good - you just need to lower the neckline on the dress patterns a lot.

I need the extra support up top, and I'd like to smooth out my torso a bit.

isabelladangelo

I'm on the curvy side and I honestly have never worn long stays.  I've always worn short.  A good example of me in short stays:



Because the Regency fashions are high waisted, you don't need to worry about your tummy - at all.  Honestly, one of the reasons I love this fashion is because I can still move normally.   I'd really suggest you find a short stays pattern you like - I think you'll be happier in the long run.   

Lady Rosalind

I tackled the short stays again this weekend. I deconstructed and marked up the mock-up. Then redrafted the pattern. No idea if this is going to create the exactly correct silhouette, but it has to be better than the original...

Mock-up Cut-up by LadyRosalindWoodville, on Flickr

Comparison by LadyRosalindWoodville, on Flickr

New mock-up! by LadyRosalindWoodville, on Flickr

I have the lining put together, complete with a few strategically placed boning channels. The front outer fabric is put together, and the rest is waiting to be assembled, basted, stitched and bound.

mollymishap

(ROFLMAO at the markings on your first mock-up...I do stuff like that all the time!)

Here's a cool blog about stays that might interest you.  She writes in German first, then in English.  http://kleidungum1800.blogspot.de/2013/05/short-stays-studies-schnurleib-studien.html   

Also, you might want to check out this pinterest page: https://www.pinterest.com/sidneyeileen/women-s-regency-undergarments/

Keep up the good work!  I often have to make several mock-ups when I'm drafting a new style of corset on myself.  The "Effigy" corset has to be the most pestiferous to date, but I'm sure there will be others...