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		1850s Fan Front Dress in Orange Printed Cotton Voile Late 1850's Bodice with Peplum and Taffeta Skirt Late 1850's Plaid Silk Dress with Taffeta Underskirt Late 1850's / Early 1860's "Last Rose of Summer" Dress 1860's Green and Purple Striped Dress 1860's Green Plaid Cotton Daydress 1860's Orange Plaid Silk Taffeta Dress 1860's Fitted Wool Coat 1860's Eugenie Fichu 1867 Blue Corded Silk Dress 1860's Burgundy Silk Ballgown
	This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site! OK, I'll admit it - I did a lot of Civil War re-enacting in my 20's. That explains why I have more dresses from this period than most others. The 1850's saw the rise of the hoopskirt - the multiple petticoats of the past two decades fell out of favor in the wake of this new device. The basic shape of the hoopskirt changed over the course of the time it was in fashion. In the mid to late 1850's, the skirts were bell shaped. In the early 1860's this changed so there was slightly more fullness at the bottom, and by the late 1860's the eliptical hoopskirt came into fashion. The eliptical hoop was flatter in front and wide towards the back. This further evolved into the bustle period that began in the 1870's.

1850s Fan Front Dress in Orange Printed Cotton Voile This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site! People are fond of thinking that only drab colors were worn in the 19th century - I am sure this is unconsciously perpetuated by the fact that only black and white photos of the time period exists. If you examine the examples of surviving clothing, there are more than a few examples of brightly colored dresses. I modeled this dress partially on a dress in the First Ladies of The Smithsonian collection in the early 1980's. The exhibit has since been updated and I am not sure if the dress in question is part of the current exhibit, but it belonged to Betty Bliss, daughter of President Zachary Taylor, who presided as hostess during his administration. I still have the booklet we purchased when we visited the exhibit. It was one of those AH HA! moments in life when I found something I was really passionate about. The dress is made of orange voile (a very thin cotton) and coordinating voile print. The three tired skirt has border print ruffles. The bodice is made in the "fan front" style that was common at the time - the bodice is gathered tightly at the bottom and "fans" out toward the shoulders. It has pagoda sleeves - white undersleeves were worn under these wide sleeves. The 1850's Straw Bonnet was designed to compliment this dress. This dress aquired the nickname "The Dress From Hell" because it was on of those projects where everything seemed to go wrong! I found the fabric at a local fabric store and bought every bit of it they had, but still came up short on the ruffles. So I kept having to subtract fabric from one ruffle to add to one of the others.
1850's Orange Fan Front Voile Dress - Front	1850's Orange Fan Front Voile Dress - Front
Detail of Gathered Bodice	Another view of the bodice.
1850's Orange Voile Dress - Back	1850's Orange Voile Dress - Sleeve Detail

Late 1850's Bodice with Peplum and Taffeta Skirt This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site! This style of elongated bodice was popular in the late 1850's, but began to fall out of fashion by 1860. At that time bodices with waistlines at the natural waist became the predominant style. The bodice is made from black, white, and red plaid linen and is trimmed with red fringe. The skirt is black faile trimmed with black lace and satin bows. The man's outfit was made by my mother and includes pants, a shirt, a vest, and a frock coat (not pictured). More details can be seen on Mom's Sewing Page.
1857 Plaid Bodice & Skirt, Men's 19th Century Outfit.

Late 1850's Plaid Silk Dress with Taffeta Underskirt This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site! The bodice of this dress is very similar to the bodice above. However this example is made from purple, black, and white plaid silk and is trimmed with black fringe. It has antique jet glass buttons. The matching overskirt is also dagged (pointed) and trimmed with fringe. The black silk underskirt has multiple layers of pinked ruffles with rows of black velvet ribbon dividing them into several groupings. It has a matching reticule. The parasol is an antique parasol recovered with new black silk.


Late 1850's / Early 1860's "Last Rose of Summer" Dress This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site! This dress is one of my masterpeices. One advantage to getting older is that in many cases, you have more money. More money means better materials and tools for sewing period garments. This is the first dress I did with my Husquvarna Viking embroidery machines. It is made from "shot" silk in fuscha pink and green. Shot silk is produced by weaving the fabric with one with two different colors for the horizontal and vertical threads. Aniline dyes were invented in 1856 by William Henry Perkin, and fuschine dye followed on it's heels in 1859. Without this new dye, the color of this dress would not be possible. As you can imagine, this color became the latest new thing to have. It was expensive but most people could at least afford a ribbon or two in this exciting new color. The color and embroidery patterns were inspired by the famous 19th century song, "The Last Rose of Summer" by Thomas Moore. The style of this dress is late 1850's to early 1860's. The waist is at the natural wastine. It has a false "fichu" covering the bodice - the front is filled in by a shirred silk panel. The pagoda sleeves have two layers - one layer finished in an embroidered scallop, and the longer layer finished in the embroidered rose pattern. This patter is repeated in both layers of the skirt. The front insertion of the skirt is shirred silk and embroidered ruffles. The layers are trimmed with self fabric finished with scalloped embroidery. The dress is made up of 20 yards of fabric, and it took three weeks to run the various embroideries on two machines.
Last Rose of Summer Dress - Front	Last Rose of Summer - Back View
Last Rose of Summer - Front Detail	Last Rose of Summer - Front Closeup
Last Rose of Summer - Side View	Last Rose of Summer - Back Detail
Last Rose of Summer - Skirt Detail	Last Rose of Summer - Sleeve Detail

1860's Green and Purple Striped Dress This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site! This is a typical day dress style from the Civil War period. The waistline is at the natural waist, and the lace collar is very narrow. The bodice opens down the front with hooks and eyes - the buttons are for decoration only. It has 2 peice "coat" sleeves that are trimmed with rusched ribbon. The same ribbon is sewn in rows around the hem of the skirt. It has a matching reticule (purse) and is shown with Scarlett's Paris Hat.
Green and Purple Striped Daydress

1860's Green Plaid Cotton Daydress This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site! This dress is also styled in the typical way of the Civil War period. The fabric is a cotton plaid homespun with linen cuffs and collar. The collar is trimmed with handmade tatted lace (I tatted it myself). The buttons are black jet. The sleeves have sleeve caps, and the armholes, sleeve caps, and waistline are piped.
Green Plaid CW Dress - Front	Green Plaid CW Dress - Back
Green Plaid CW Dress - Side	Green Plaid CW Dress - Bodice Detail

1860's Orange Plaid Silk Taffeta Dress This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site! I lucked into this peice of orange/yellow/green/magenta silk plaid on eBay for a very small sum, I am thinking about $35, about 10 years ago. I had just enough - with only the tinest scraps left - to make this 1860's day dress. It is modeled after an original in a private collection. The bodice trim and basic styling I copied from this dress, which was also made of a very slimilar silk taffeta plaid. The skirt is not as full as I would have liked, as I only had enough fabric for 3 skirt panels.
Bill and I at Do Dah Days - A local Stephen Foster Festival	Closeup of Bodice
Another Front View	Plaid Silk Dress - Back
Closeup of Back	Side View

1860's Fitted Wool Coat This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site! This fitted coat is made from light blue wool and is lined with light blue satin. The collar and trim are blue velvet, and the front fastenings are antique pewter. The coat is constructed from fitted gored panels - there is no waist seam. The blue velvet version of Scarlett's Paris Hat was designed to compliment this coat. There is a story that goes with this coat. One day my mother came over to my house and gave me a big bag of fabric. "I cleaned out my sewing closet," she explained, "and I found this huge peice of wool. I think I got it from the Goodwill. It is a really ugly color, but it is great wool. So I thought I'd give it to you - maybe there is something you can make out of it." That peice of wool became this coat! Trimmed with some deep blue velvet, it doesn't look nearly so much like a color you would find in the mistint paint isle at Home Depot.
Civil War Era Fitted Coat	Civil War Era Fitted Coat
Front of coat.	Closeup of Coat Front Showing Sleeves.
Antique pewter fastiners.	Side of Coat.

1860's Eugenie Fichu This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site! In 1853 Napoleon III married the Empress Eugenie, who subsequently became a fashion trend setter for the period. Charles Frederick Worth was her fashion designer. I found a pattern for this garment, named after her. I cannot find any documentation to show whether she ever wore anything like this. Regardless, it is a nice peice that adds flexibility to one's wardrobe. It is made from cream colored satin with an organza overlay, and is trimmed with black and blonde lace.
CW Eugenie Fichu

1867 Blue Corded Silk Dress This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site! This dress is modeled after an original dress in a private collection that is attributed to Charles Frederick Worth. The dress is made from bright blue corded silk (or faille). This particular fabric is actually cotton, and taught me a good lesson about fabric and dyes and why it cheap isn't always a good thing! The orginal lot of fabric I got from a friend who had gotten it really cheap at an outlet store. It was great looking stuff! I made it into a Civil War era ballgown. Several years later I ran into what appeared to be more of the exact same fabric, which I also bought. With this additional yardage, I was able to make the 1869 style bodice, the elaborate back drape, and the apron style drape. However, after a couple of years the original fabric started to change colors in a very uneven way. The second lot of fabric - which appeared to be identical to the first in every way - retained it's original color. As a result this outfit is currently unwearable. However I may attempt to dye it all to a uniform blue at some point in the future. I will have to pick off all the antique fringe to do that, but it is probably worth it on a dress that I took the time to do handmade buttonholes.
This is the original Civil War era ballgown. As you can see, the royal blue fabric has turned purple in some areas! The skirt has more purple than the bodice, most likely because it was worn outdoors in sunlight and exposed to UV light more often than the bodice.	Back of the original ballgown. I did not lace up the eyelets for picture taking purposes. When I first made this, the entire dress was the same color as the ribbon!
Detail of the Civial War Ballgown bodice, showing the sleeves.	Here is the skirt with the 1869 bodice, copied from a Charles Fredrick Worth dress. The bodice waistline is slightly higher than the natural waist, as was common in the late 1860's. The bodice is trimmed with rows of braided self fabric, and the buttonholes are handmade. The sleeves are trimmed with puffed self fabric and antique gold fringe.
Here are two more views of the 1869 bodice ....	Trim made with the original fabric lot have turned purple.
Very detailed view of front, showing braided self fabric trim and handmade buttonholes.	Back detail of 1869 bodice - the self fabric braid continues into points on the back of the bodice.
Full view of the back, showing the elaborate back drape.	Detail of back drape ... the drape retains the original color of the dress.
I had more fabric and fringe left, so why not make an 1869 apron style drape for the skirt?	Back of apron drape. You can see how this style is evolving into the bustle of the 1870's.
1860's Burgundy Silk Ballgown This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site! Designed to compliment a set of period Bohemian garnets (necklace and pin shown below), this gown is made from burgundy embroidered silk taffeta. Various types of "figured" silks were common in the 19th century; these silks had woven patterns in them and are difficult to find nowdays. The embroidered taffeta is an approximation of figured silk. The bodice is trimmed with a ruffled bertha collar, trimmed with antique gold metal thread lace (French) and antique gold and burgundy chennile braid. The shoulders are trimmed with handmade self fabric roses with green velvet leaves. The back laces closed. The neckline has a tucker made of off white cotton net (difficult to see as the net is the same color as the dress form). It has recenty come to my attention that this dress has been the target of an internet troll's pinterest board trashing various Civil War costume "sins". If you came here via a link from the troll's pinterest board, please allow me to correct some misinformation: 1) This dress is NOT DUPIONI - it is 100% silk taffeta. 2) Yes it is embroidered, because I wanted figured silk and I have not been able to find any, and I feel this is a reasonable substitute. MY dress MY decision. 2) The "damn tucker" is around the neckline. 3) Metal trim has been around since the 1500's at least. If you want some examples of existing garments with metal trim and embroidery see here, here, here, here and here and particularly here. Did "ordinary" people have gowns with gold trim? No. Does that mean nobody is ever allowed to make one? No, as far as I'm concerned, and again MY dress MY decision. N'uff said.
Front of Civil War Ballgown	Full Height Front
Bertha Collar Detail	Sleeve Detail
Back	Back Detail
Return to Top

1850s Fan Front Dress in Orange Printed Cotton Voile

This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site!

People are fond of thinking that only drab colors were worn in the 19th century - I am sure this is unconsciously perpetuated by the fact that only black and white photos of the time period exists. If you examine the examples of surviving clothing, there are more than a few examples of brightly colored dresses. I modeled this dress partially on a dress in the First Ladies of The Smithsonian collection in the early 1980's. The exhibit has since been updated and I am not sure if the dress in question is part of the current exhibit, but it belonged to Betty Bliss, daughter of President Zachary Taylor, who presided as hostess during his administration. I still have the booklet we purchased when we visited the exhibit. It was one of those AH HA! moments in life when I found something I was really passionate about.

The dress is made of orange voile (a very thin cotton) and coordinating voile print. The three tired skirt has border print ruffles. The bodice is made in the "fan front" style that was common at the time - the bodice is gathered tightly at the bottom and "fans" out toward the shoulders. It has pagoda sleeves - white undersleeves were worn under these wide sleeves. The 1850's Straw Bonnet was designed to compliment this dress.

This dress aquired the nickname "The Dress From Hell" because it was on of those projects where everything seemed to go wrong! I found the fabric at a local fabric store and bought every bit of it they had, but still came up short on the ruffles. So I kept having to subtract fabric from one ruffle to add to one of the others.

Orange Voile Dress Front

1850's Orange Fan Front Voile Dress - Front

Orange Voile Dress - Front Closeup

1850's Orange Fan Front Voile Dress - Front

Orange Voile Dress Front Detail

Detail of Gathered Bodice

Orange Voile Dress Front

Another view of the bodice.

Orange Voile Dress Back

1850's Orange Voile Dress - Back

Orange Voile Dress Sleeve

1850's Orange Voile Dress - Sleeve Detail

Late 1850's Bodice with Peplum and Taffeta Skirt

This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site!

This style of elongated bodice was popular in the late 1850's, but began to fall out of fashion by 1860. At that time bodices with waistlines at the natural waist became the predominant style. The bodice is made from black, white, and red plaid linen and is trimmed with red fringe. The skirt is black faile trimmed with black lace and satin bows. The man's outfit was made by my mother and includes pants, a shirt, a vest, and a frock coat (not pictured). More details can be seen on Mom's Sewing Page.

1857 Bodice and Skirt

1857 Plaid Bodice & Skirt, Men's 19th Century Outfit.

Late 1850's Plaid Silk Dress with Taffeta Underskirt

This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site!

The bodice of this dress is very similar to the bodice above. However this example is made from purple, black, and white plaid silk and is trimmed with black fringe. It has antique jet glass buttons. The matching overskirt is also dagged (pointed) and trimmed with fringe. The black silk underskirt has multiple layers of pinked ruffles with rows of black velvet ribbon dividing them into several groupings. It has a matching reticule. The parasol is an antique parasol recovered with new black silk.

Plaid Purple Silk Dress

Late 1850's / Early 1860's "Last Rose of Summer" Dress

This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site!

This dress is one of my masterpeices. One advantage to getting older is that in many cases, you have more money. More money means better materials and tools for sewing period garments. This is the first dress I did with my Husquvarna Viking embroidery machines. It is made from "shot" silk in fuscha pink and green. Shot silk is produced by weaving the fabric with one with two different colors for the horizontal and vertical threads. Aniline dyes were invented in 1856 by William Henry Perkin, and fuschine dye followed on it's heels in 1859. Without this new dye, the color of this dress would not be possible. As you can imagine, this color became the latest new thing to have. It was expensive but most people could at least afford a ribbon or two in this exciting new color. The color and embroidery patterns were inspired by the famous 19th century song, "The Last Rose of Summer" by Thomas Moore.

The style of this dress is late 1850's to early 1860's. The waist is at the natural wastine. It has a false "fichu" covering the bodice - the front is filled in by a shirred silk panel. The pagoda sleeves have two layers - one layer finished in an embroidered scallop, and the longer layer finished in the embroidered rose pattern. This patter is repeated in both layers of the skirt. The front insertion of the skirt is shirred silk and embroidered ruffles. The layers are trimmed with self fabric finished with scalloped embroidery. The dress is made up of 20 yards of fabric, and it took three weeks to run the various embroideries on two machines.

Last Rose of Summer Dress - Front

Last Rose of Summer - Back View

Last Rose of Summer - Front Detail

Last Rose of Summer - Front Closeup

Last Rose of Summer - Side View

Last Rose of Summer - Back Detail

Last Rose of Summer - Skirt Detail

Last Rose of Summer - Sleeve Detail

1860's Green and Purple Striped Dress

This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site!

This is a typical day dress style from the Civil War period. The waistline is at the natural waist, and the lace collar is very narrow. The bodice opens down the front with hooks and eyes - the buttons are for decoration only. It has 2 peice "coat" sleeves that are trimmed with rusched ribbon. The same ribbon is sewn in rows around the hem of the skirt. It has a matching reticule (purse) and is shown with Scarlett's Paris Hat.

1860's Green and Purple Stripe Dress

Green and Purple Striped Daydress

1860's Green Plaid Cotton Daydress

This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site!

This dress is also styled in the typical way of the Civil War period. The fabric is a cotton plaid homespun with linen cuffs and collar. The collar is trimmed with handmade tatted lace (I tatted it myself). The buttons are black jet. The sleeves have sleeve caps, and the armholes, sleeve caps, and waistline are piped.

Green Plaid CW Dress - Front

Green Plaid CW Dress - Back

Green Plaid CW Dress - Side

Green Plaid CW Dress - Bodice Detail

1860's Orange Plaid Silk Taffeta Dress

This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site!

I lucked into this peice of orange/yellow/green/magenta silk plaid on eBay for a very small sum, I am thinking about $35, about 10 years ago. I had just enough - with only the tinest scraps left - to make this 1860's day dress. It is modeled after an original in a private collection. The bodice trim and basic styling I copied from this dress, which was also made of a very slimilar silk taffeta plaid. The skirt is not as full as I would have liked, as I only had enough fabric for 3 skirt panels.

Bill and I at Do Dah Days - A local Stephen Foster Festival

Closeup of Bodice

Another Front View

Plaid Silk Dress - Back

Closeup of Back

Side View

1860's Fitted Wool Coat

This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site!

This fitted coat is made from light blue wool and is lined with light blue satin. The collar and trim are blue velvet, and the front fastenings are antique pewter. The coat is constructed from fitted gored panels - there is no waist seam. The blue velvet version of Scarlett's Paris Hat was designed to compliment this coat.

There is a story that goes with this coat. One day my mother came over to my house and gave me a big bag of fabric. "I cleaned out my sewing closet," she explained, "and I found this huge peice of wool. I think I got it from the Goodwill. It is a really ugly color, but it is great wool. So I thought I'd give it to you - maybe there is something you can make out of it."

That peice of wool became this coat! Trimmed with some deep blue velvet, it doesn't look nearly so much like a color you would find in the mistint paint isle at Home Depot.

Civil War Era Fitted Coat

Civil War Fitted Coat Front

Front of coat.

Civil War Fitted Coat Sleeve

Closeup of Coat Front Showing Sleeves.

Civil War Fitted Coat Fastiners

Antique pewter fastiners.

Civil War Fitted Coat Side

Side of Coat.

1860's Eugenie Fichu

This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site!

In 1853 Napoleon III married the Empress Eugenie, who subsequently became a fashion trend setter for the period. Charles Frederick Worth was her fashion designer. I found a pattern for this garment, named after her. I cannot find any documentation to show whether she ever wore anything like this. Regardless, it is a nice peice that adds flexibility to one's wardrobe. It is made from cream colored satin with an organza overlay, and is trimmed with black and blonde lace.

CW Eugenie Fichu

1867 Blue Corded Silk Dress

This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site!

This dress is modeled after an original dress in a private collection that is attributed to Charles Frederick Worth. The dress is made from bright blue corded silk (or faille). This particular fabric is actually cotton, and taught me a good lesson about fabric and dyes and why it cheap isn't always a good thing! The orginal lot of fabric I got from a friend who had gotten it really cheap at an outlet store. It was great looking stuff! I made it into a Civil War era ballgown. Several years later I ran into what appeared to be more of the exact same fabric, which I also bought. With this additional yardage, I was able to make the 1869 style bodice, the elaborate back drape, and the apron style drape. However, after a couple of years the original fabric started to change colors in a very uneven way. The second lot of fabric - which appeared to be identical to the first in every way - retained it's original color. As a result this outfit is currently unwearable. However I may attempt to dye it all to a uniform blue at some point in the future. I will have to pick off all the antique fringe to do that, but it is probably worth it on a dress that I took the time to do handmade buttonholes.

Civil War Ball Gown Front

This is the original Civil War era ballgown. As you can see, the royal blue fabric has turned purple in some areas! The skirt has more purple than the bodice, most likely because it was worn outdoors in sunlight and exposed to UV light more often than the bodice.

Civil War Ball Gown Back

Back of the original ballgown. I did not lace up the eyelets for picture taking purposes. When I first made this, the entire dress was the same color as the ribbon!

Civil War Ball Gown Detail of Bodice

Detail of the Civial War Ballgown bodice, showing the sleeves.

1869 Blue Corded Silk Dress Front

Here is the skirt with the 1869 bodice, copied from a Charles Fredrick Worth dress. The bodice waistline is slightly higher than the natural waist, as was common in the late 1860's. The bodice is trimmed with rows of braided self fabric, and the buttonholes are handmade. The sleeves are trimmed with puffed self fabric and antique gold fringe.

1869 Blue Corded Silk Dress - Front Detail

Here are two more views of the 1869 bodice ....

1869 Blue Corded Silk Dress Front Detail

Trim made with the original fabric lot have turned purple.

1869 Corded Silk Dress - Front Detail

Very detailed view of front, showing braided self fabric trim and handmade buttonholes.

1869 Corded Silk Dress - Back Detail

Back detail of 1869 bodice - the self fabric braid continues into points on the back of the bodice.

1869 Blue Corded Silk Dress - Back

Full view of the back, showing the elaborate back drape.

1869 Blue Corded Silk Dress - Back Drape Detail

Detail of back drape ... the drape retains the original color of the dress.

1869 Corded Silk Dress - Apron Drape Front

I had more fabric and fringe left, so why not make an 1869 apron style drape for the skirt?

1869 Corded Silk Dress - Apron Drape Back

Back of apron drape. You can see how this style is evolving into the bustle of the 1870's.

1860's Burgundy Silk Ballgown

This site is no longer being updated - Go to NEW Site!

Designed to compliment a set of period Bohemian garnets (necklace and pin shown below), this gown is made from burgundy embroidered silk taffeta. Various types of "figured" silks were common in the 19th century; these silks had woven patterns in them and are difficult to find nowdays. The embroidered taffeta is an approximation of figured silk. The bodice is trimmed with a ruffled bertha collar, trimmed with antique gold metal thread lace (French) and antique gold and burgundy chennile braid. The shoulders are trimmed with handmade self fabric roses with green velvet leaves. The back laces closed. The neckline has a tucker made of off white cotton net (difficult to see as the net is the same color as the dress form).

It has recenty come to my attention that this dress has been the target of an internet troll's pinterest board trashing various Civil War costume "sins".
If you came here via a link from the troll's pinterest board, please allow me to correct some misinformation:

1) This dress is NOT DUPIONI - it is 100% silk taffeta.

2) Yes it is embroidered, because I wanted figured silk and I have not been able to find any, and I feel this is a reasonable substitute.
MY dress MY decision.

2) The "damn tucker" is around the neckline.

3) Metal trim has been around since the 1500's at least. If you want some examples of existing garments with metal trim and embroidery see here, here, here, here and here and particularly here.
Did "ordinary" people have gowns with gold trim? No. Does that mean nobody is ever allowed to make one? No, as far as I'm concerned, and again MY dress MY decision.

N'uff said.

Front Civil War Ballgown