Early Bustle Gown

This dress was a quick-and-dirty project that only took me 7 days to complete from start to finish. The general cut of the dress is based on an undated self-portrait of Eva Gongales, but the style is very similar to some of the fashion plates in my 1873 Peterson's magazine, so I used a few of those illustrations to help me design the parts that I couldn't see in the painting. All of the patterns are based on various cutting diagrams in my Peterson's magazines and Patterns of Fashion, but I did use one of the Truly Victorian patterns to help me make a basic bodice toile that I could then alter to work with lots of different styles. Luckily, I had all of my underwear already finished from the other project, so that saved me a huge amount of time.

The fabric is a semi-sheer cotton that I found in the 90% off bin at Hobby Lobby last winter. It is lined with defective cotton sateen sheets that my husband gets for free from his work. The trim and bows are made of cotton chintz, and the hat is one of those cheap straw hats that the craft stores sell for doll makers. I just wet it to re-shape it, and then I went crazy with the hot-glue and flowers! These most recent pictures were taken at Chestnut Square Historical Village, where I've just started volunteering for their living history days.