How To Make A 18th Century Dress

Last week I showed you the pictures, today we are learning about the dress: I will explain how I make my dress: is it historic? Who should I be? If you dare to read to the end, you will be able to impress even the most blasphemous of friends with your profound knowledge of what Marie Antoinette really wore to the Revolution. Is that right?I could write dozens of posts about how I made this dress. But I will behave, promised. This week we’ll be talking about outfits while next week we’ll be talking about accessories, hairstyles, and makeup. Yes, it takes a job in the village to turn into a Marquise! Read: how to make an 18th century dress How it all started We have to go back a few years, when I started my first costume project using this pattern:Simple 3637 patterns… It’s made from bed sheets. And yes, that’s really what I was thinking as a “small project just starting out” at the time… Thanks to the fairy godmother (aka my mother-in-law), I got it. 5 or 6 yards of curtain fabric with as many as 18th Styles you could wish for. It’s perfect but….The first version of the dress, screams “yes, I’m made by a beginner”… Let’s just say my sewing skills don’t match my imagination. went out again. In the meantime, I’ve improved my knowledge of the times… Picking just one more thing, I could go on to describe the different versions of dresses I’ve come across, the good and the bad of them. they. The net is filled with super interesting resources if someone searches for it. However, my wish is not to kill you so I will summarize the parts that were most useful to me. The most curious among you are welcome to visit and check out wonderful websites like American Duchess, Temps d’élégance et le Temple des Modes (the last two are english-franco blogs).The hardest part is, out of so many options available, choose only ONE that I will design and sew to the end.. If you start a time-consuming project, you can also be sure that it will be nice and historically accurate(ish). vague. If trends don’t change as quickly as our modern-day “fast fashion,” style has evolved a lot from decade to decade. To give you an idea, see this:It began at the end of the reign of Louis the 14th (he died in 1715), followed by the Regent period which lasted until 1723, inaugurating the reign of Louis the 15th.Louis the 15th (1715-1774), followed by the 16th Louis (1774-1793)…… And Marie Antoinette was followed by the French Revolution (1789 to 1799, ending with Napoleon’s coup) Source: Russian blog Bloshka with multiple timelines like this one. They also have a Facebook page When you want to create an 18th century look, time is not the only factor to take into account. Clothing also depends on your activity (inside, outside, hunting, dribbling…), time of day and your social rank (obviously).It was the fabric that helped me decide, reminiscent of the pre-Revolutionary period. In short, Marie Antoinette’s style became more and more popular starting in 1775 after the death of the 15th Louis. The older he got, the simpler the clothes became. The influence of the Revolution and the thought of the time also tended towards less ostentatious fabrics, less full skirts…My main inspiration: one of Sofia Coppola’s dresses from Marie Antoinette. It’s not that I’m crazy about this movie, but it’s still OUTLOOK… .Who am I supposed to be? I’m closer to a young Bourgeoise than a Marquise to tell you the truth. At my age (28), I have 3 or 4 kids and I’ve been married for 10 years Read more: how to change your profile picture on imvu mobileYou probably won’t go to Versailles in your outfit (not enough) bling) but you can definitely walk around for nice park walks in Paris. Putting the pieces together Since I now know the style I want, I chose a matching pattern (below)Sample JP Ryan, “robe à l’anglaise” I completely skipped over the thick, small text explanatory tutorial provided by JP Ryan. Instead, I followed the instructions of another blogger (Dentelle et Satin franco-english too). She has created a step-by-step construction video in the best way:I used the top liner as a test for the pattern. A good thing since the size 16 I ordered is so large it needs to be super thin (but not wrinkled) to get the right look. You can see on the image how I truncated all the seams.Stay cool and sew in!I have two main difficulties: sleeve the pattern was wrong (on the left, too big) so I added a crease (middle image). Front seam must be super tight to the breast so a lot of work there.My advice would be to check the fit of your dress WHEN you’re still in (not the case on the picture where you get the idea). The reason is that your shape will change when you put it on (that’s… that sort of thing). Focus on sewing your sleeves. Trust a skeptic-now-believer: yes, this is faster than a sewing machine…Various tests on decoration. I chose the less “hey, I’m a live manga” option…The Last BowThe lace is dyed with tea to remove its “too shiny” partReady to be worn!Review History or not? Yes and no. YES group:

The shape is good and I have an approximate number of layers needed.

The pattern on the fabric isn’t too bad: cotton or cottonade started to become fashionable (even luxury) around this time. People also fall in love with the stripes and floral motifs of Marie Antoinette’s péché mignon. Plus, the colors weren’t too bright: back then, colors as vibrant as the ones we have today hadn’t been invented yet. They will be present in the development of chemistry in the 19th century. If interested, check out this horror story about the first green dye invented. Not pretty anymore, right?

Jewelry is correct even if that style of pearl necklace was in fashion earlier, in the middle of the century. Unlike what you would believe with stories like The Queen’s Necklace, super bling bling diamonds are rarely worn. In fact, the dress IS the jewel and you will wear them on it, not around the neck. Ordinary (wealthy) people prefer lace or pearl necklaces.

Catherine II the Great of Russia (1729-1796) before 1762. Photo by Heritage ImagesTeam does NOT:

I went out WITHOUT ONE! You simply wouldn’t do it if you were a decent woman. Even if you are tiny, you HAVE to wear one. Since I was in such a hurry to put on the dress, I didn’t bother to make one, I replaced it with a small lace and flower decoration in my hair but it didn’t really look the same, I confess.

I don’t wear a shift. Here again, I was too lazy. Since dresses were refurbished endlessly during their existence (clothes were more and more extensive than men at the time) they were also often passed down through generations. A good way to “save” the dress as long as possible is to wear a white shirt underneath. You’ll just need to peel off the lace-up hem to say “hey, even what I wear underneath is expensiveyyyy so please respect that!”.

I’m missing a layer or two of skirts and my way of lifting my skirt up is not correct:

Dress in “retroussée” positionHow should it look?

Puffy sleeves are also incorrect But I’m too lazy, I like that style

Read more: how to reset the vending machine card readerIf you want to know more about this topic, read this article from Temps d’élégance. Really helpful. It’s okay if you don’t want to play by the exact historical rules, girls want to have fun and all that… SpecificationsPrice: Hard to say because the fabric was a gift but probably around 250$ / 300$