Visiting dress, late 1860's, Augusta Auctions
Dress 1868-1869 The McCord Museum
Up until the mid-19th century, almost all dyes were made from materials found in plants (indigo, woad, woad, madder, brazilwood, tumeric and others), animals (shellfish purple, cochineal), and minerals. While these dyes could produce an amazing range of colours, there were still some colours that couldn’t be produced by natural means, and some of the colours that could be produced by natural means were inclined to run, fade, or to destroy the very fabrics they dyed. Then, in 1856 William Henry Perkin, a young chemistry student, working at home, after hours, in a makeshift laboratory, trying to create a chemically identical artificial version of quinine (a very valuable plant-based drug which was used to treat malaria), thought to experiment with the results of another failed attempt. The result of his experiment on his experiment was mauveine (also known as Perkin’s mauve, aniline purple, harmaline,Tyrian purple, plain old mauve, and, if you want to be extremely technical, 3-amino-2, ±9-dimethyl-5-phenyl-7-(p-tolylamino)phenazinium acetate). Mauveine was a combination of aniline (a common extract of coal tar) and other compounds which …
Evening Dress 1855-1860 The FIDM Museum
victorian coat
Skirt c.1850-1860 United States Mint Museum
For Mom's 1863 Dress, I found a dress from the MET that will look fabulous on her! I also found in our stash fabrics that we can use for it!! Huzzah!!! Here it is! I love the purples and the fact that the bodice and skirt are different shades of purple. We only have 7 yards of the material for the skirt, so yeah for different materials in one dress!! Fabulous Purple MET dress The back is really pretty!! Mom's dress won't have the elliptical shape of this one as the cage crinoline is not elliptical. Mom's fabrics are very similar in color to the extant dress...but...the skirt in mom's will be the light purple and the bodice will be the darker wool. Close up of the texture of the light purple...the colors are wrong, but this gives you an idea of the fabrics! Can't wait to see this dress complete!! Mom will look fabulous!
Becoming Laura 860’s/70’s Bonnets and Hair Nets shares historical images, ads and photographs as well as step by step how to make a bonnet.
The following are links to some ready-made or custom made Regency dresses, new empire waist dresses, sewing patterns, cheap regency era costumes, shoes, hats, and accessories ideal for your unique Jane Austen, Emma, and Bridgerton outfit. Look at Cottagecore for even more soft, romantic trendy fashions. Regency Jane Austen Dresses & Shoes The time of
Fashion has changed exponentially over the last two centuries. In the 1860s women wore thickly boned corsets, multiple petticoats, steel hoop skirts and…
In response to Veronica's original comment: What is your foundation under your dress as far as hoop/ petticoats? It's such a lovely shape. :) I LOVE this question! I never thought of some stranger would walk up to me and play with my skirts, figuring out how they were supported, but I really have had some people foundling me before! For this reason, I have started showing off "whats underneath" at the Greenfield Village's fashion show. There is no doubt of my thoughts on wearing historical underpinnings. And to give you a little TMI, I wear absolutely NO modern clothing while I wear my historical clothing. If you dont understand, you soon will. I know how becoming a reenactor you just want to jump right in! You want a fancy ball gown and all this fun lacey stuff! And no doubt wearing all of that IS fun! But to save YOU time and money, first we must train our eyes and be realistic. We must study and recognize the different shapes each era creates. I have laid out three distinguished fashion plates within 50 years a part. Like todays world, you would not want to be wearing your grandmothers clothing (unless your reenacting 1940-1950's lol). 1830 1860 1880 Here we can clearly see a change in the 30 years between each fashion plate. It is not only the dresses that are bold, but the silhouettes make the boldest statement. One could NOT wear a dress without its proper support. Take time to exercise your mind and see the slowly, but surely, transition from one era to the next. I find it fascinating that one small change from year to year eventually makes a large change between 15+ years later!
Picture 003
1860s
Evening dress, 1860′s done in beautiful sky blue.
Unidentified CDV, ca. 1864, private collection. via eBay.
Dress c.1850 United States Philadelphia Museum of Art
Dress 1865-1868 The Metropolitan Museum of Art December 1st is World AIDS Day. Get tested. Donate to HIV/AIDS research.
