Tag Archives: 18th Century

1780s Silk Taffeta Stripe Gown: Planning and Construction

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Today’s topic falls under the subject of outfit planning. Out of the seemingly infinite varieties of fabrics, trims, styles and ideas floating around out there, how do you decide what to make? There are several ways to approach this. This outfit is a great example of:

Start with the Most Difficult to Find Element

Sometimes you find an element of an outfit that is just to awesome to pass up. It’s rare. It’s unusual. It’s the perfect color. You never thought you would find it! Don’t pass it up! Buy The Thing and built an outfit around it. It could be anything: a piece of jewelry, fabric, shoes, any element of the ensemble really. It’s The Thing that often makes an outfit, and it is much more difficult to find The Thing to go with it, when the outfit is already made.

The Thing: This journey began with amazing necklace I bought from Dames a la Mode:

Bluish Green Collet Necklace with Clear Crystal Accents

This unusual blue/green color is one of the best colors for me, and I was so excited to find this necklace! I have worn it a lot with modern outfits, but as I soon realized, I didn’t have any 18th century gowns that match this, or even look good with it.

So I went through the fabric stash and found a yardage of striped silk taffeta I bought on eBay some years ago. It is a balanced stripe (meaning the stripe patterns are symmetrical) with a lighter shade of the same odd blue/green color, a yellowish gold, cream, and a narrow dark red stripe:

I only had 5 yards of it! I believe it was leftover from someone’s expensive home décor project, as it only had a salvage on one side. It must have been quite wide in its native state as it was still a healthy 48 inches wide. I knew I had enough for a gown (just barely) but not enough for a petticoat. So I had a choice – make a round gown or an open robe that would always be worn with a solid color petticoat. I chose the open robe. The fabric looks very nice with off white and I have some quilted silk in the dark red color that should also look nice with it. I still hope to find some yellow/gold that matches and make another petticoat. I think it is pretty near impossible to find this shade of blue green in a solid taffeta. I tried several samples I had on hand and none of them were even close.

Nevertheless, here is the primary image that is the inspiration for this dress:

1780s Blue and Cream gown sold through Daguerre Auctions.

I also have a pair of dark red shoes from American Duchess that I think will look wonderful with this fabric:

I already have the JP Ryan English Nightgown pattern fitted to myself, so I can cut this dress out and be sure it will fit me.

The pattern comes with two sleeve options and I am using the longer sleeve that has an optional cuff. Instead of using a cuff, I will put pinked trim on in two rows to create a faux cuff, like this:

Cuff detail of gown from museums.fivecolleges.edu/

As I cut the bodice on the bias to achieve the V shaped stripes on the center front, I adjusted the pattern to have no overlap in the front. I used hook and eye tape to close, as this fabric leaves very bad pin marks! I will cover the seams from the closure insertion with pinked trim.

  • Front
  • Front Closure

To save fabric, I faced the hem with bias tape:

And here is a photo of the pleating on the back. There are a few pin holes, but I know of no way to do an en fourreau back without using pins!

Pleated and sewn en fourreau back.

Here is the finished gown.

Battle Of The Stays: RESULTS!

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Phew that took a long time!  The worst part of making stays?  Binding.  Ugh took forever!  But they are finally done and photographed.  Photographing them was almost as much work as making them.  The photos were taken in two different sessions with helpers and with a selfie stick, so the hair and chemise change sometimes.  I learned a lot about how to do (mediocre) photo shoots though!  But here it is – a comparison between four different 18th century stays patterns.

I am a modern size 14/16 so this gives a good idea how these patterns will look on  the average lady of today.  Compared to the standard measurements of these patterns, I am slightly longer waisted between waist and bust, and slightly shorter waisted from bust to hip (details like that matter when making corsets).  My waist is wider than the assumed waist on the patterns because I am apple shaped, so I sized the pattern using bust size.  I am reduced three inches which is about the maximum for most 18th century stays.  They are not really designed for tight lacing.

High Level Comparisons

Stays: Larkin & Smith, Reconstruction History Front & Back Lacing, Reconstructing History 1790’s, JP Ryan Diderot Stays

Contestant # 1  Larkin & Smith Front and Back Lacing Stays

Larkin and Smith Front and Back Lacing Stays

I have worn these to several events and they are VERY comfortable!  Great for most of the 18th century, these will get you through both the French & Indian and Rev war (unless you are going super high style, then use the Contestant #4 JP Ryan stays).  These are easy to get on and off and give me a nice (as can be expected) figure.  The inner layers are cotton canvas and the outer covering is red silk; construction notes can be found here.  This pair is boned with synthetic whalebone, which is very light weight and thin.  It was also very easy to work with.  I highly recommend this pattern if this is your first pair of stays or if you only plan to make one pair.  The pattern is worth its weight in gold just for the amazing instructions!  Once you go through them, you can use the method on any pair of stays, including diagrams from costume books.  They are easy to fit, and stays without shoulder straps are easier to move around in.  Front lacing makes it so much easier to put them on and take them off by yourself.  Most of us don’t have ladies maids so this is an important consideration.  Here is how they turned out:

Front of red silk Larkin & Smith Stays – I thought about binding them in black but ended up using self fabric.  I like the black lacing which I used because I could not find ribbon in the right color.  Red is red, right?  Not!

Back of red silk Larkin & Smith Stays

Side of red silk Larkin & Smith Stays – pretty straight in front despite fat gut assuming you stand correctly and don’t try to be a fucking fashion model.  These stays have excellent tummy control!

Full side view red silk Larkin & Smith stays – standing straighter.  Boobs look better because I am using a cheat – stick a rolled up pair of socks under each boob.  Not kidding!  Makes a huge difference!  Apples on a tray, people!

Contestant # 2  Reconstructing History Front and Back Lacing Stays

Reconstructing History Stays

This pair of stays is longer than the others, and is boned with reed.  The reed is thicker than the synthetic whalebone, but interestingly my waist measurement ends up exactly the same in this one as the Larkin & Smith stays above.  Go figure!  The bust is two inches smaller as it is a much more long, narrow stay.  Perfect for the first quarter of the 18th century, and surprisingly comfortable!  I was not sure about the reed but it worked out quite well.  My only recommendation is to use steel bones on either sides of the eyelets both front and back.  I did use them in the back, but not in the front.  I could hear them complaining as I laced it up and I had to be careful to tighten it gradually or the reed would have snapped.  The inside layers are cotton canvas and the outer fabric is blue silk brocade.  Construction notes are here.  This pattern has great bang for your buck as you get four different stay designs, including the rare 1790’s stay (Contestant #3 below).  Drum roll please ….

Reconstructing History Blue Silk Brocade Stays Front – no room for “boob socks” in this long lean stay.  They pop out pretty good on their own.

Reconstructing History Blue Silk Brocade Stays Back – sorry this one came loose in back but I was too exhausted by this point to care.  It does lace evenly when one is not being lazy.

Reconstructing History Blue Silk Brocade Stays Side

Reconstructing History Blue Silk Brocade Stays Side – curving out at the bottom due to fat gut, but has a pretty straight line from waist to bust, where it shows.

Contestant # 3  Reconstructing History Wide Front 1790s Stays

Reconstructing History 1790’s Wide Front Stays

These are one of the two pairs of half boned stays, and for half boned stays I use spring steel boning.  The unique thing about these stays is the very wide front.  This is to help create the wide pooched out front bodices of the 1790’s.  They are also much shorter than the other three pair, so they are not as flattering by themselves.  However I do believe they will create the perfect silhouette for the 1790’s, which is not about looking thin!  They are lined with cotton canvas and the other covering is white silk taffeta.  As I plan to wear them under a chemise a la reine I wanted to stick with white that will not show through the thin fabric of the dress.  I cheated and used metal eyelets with cross lacing on these, because I was afraid they would be hard to lace up on me otherwise.  I also discovered that it does much better if I leave off the bottom three eyelets.  I cannot remember if I copied the eyelet placement from the pattern, but most likely not.  You really only need the eyelets to go down a couple of inches below the waist, and the ends – which are really tabs – know what to do.  Construction notes are here.  Without further ado ….

Reconstructing History Wide Front 1790s Stays Front Close Up

Reconstructing History Wide Front 1790s Stays Full Length

Reconstructing History Wide Front 1790s Stays Side – front pooching nicely.  Stuff a fluffy kerchief down the front and yur done.

Reconstructing History Wide Front 1790s Stays Back

Contestant # 4  JP Ryan Half Boned Diderot Stays

JP Ryan Half Boned Stays

This pair of stays is also half boned, and therefore boned with spring steel.  It has cotton canvas as the lining and green silk taffeta for the cover.  Interestingly this pattern has slightly different pieces for the outer layer, but they do fit together correctly.  I love the shape of these stays!  One of the differences between stays in the earlier part of the 18th century vs. stays from the latter quarter is the shape of the front.  Earlier stays have a conical front, that is a straight line from the waist to the top of the bust (tends to curve out a bit at the bottom on me, due to fat gut).  Starting around 1780, the stays began to curve outward from the waist to the bust.  This is most extreme in the example above but this pair is also cut that way, and is perfect for the 1780’s and into the 1790’s (before waistlines started to rise).  They are very comfortable, but somewhat challenging to get on and off by yourself, but it can be done.  I love how long and slimming they are!  They are good at what they do – I feel like I am wearing a lard tutu as it squashes all that fat downwards with great efficiency.  Don’t need as big a bum roll!  I had some fun with this one and the new selfie stick.  Pardon the side shot glasses – I just could not get a decent side view without being able to see.  Construction notes are here.  Last one!

JP Ryan Diderot Green Silk Stays Front

JP Ryan Diderot Green Silk Stays Front with Selfie Stick – you can’t see the lard tutu surprisingly.

JP Ryan Diderot Green Silk Stays Side

JP Ryan Diderot Green Silk Stays Back – lacing nice and even steven.

So there you have it!  Which one is your favorite?