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Friday, March 25, 2011

1840 period costume

1840 dress


Inside of the bodice
 This lovely period costume is on it's way to Fort Wellington in Prescott, Ontario. I fell in love with this fabric. It was a cotton print,  called "Christmas in Virginia." It did not look at all Christmas-sy to me, apart from being red. It was a very period look.

The dress is very plain, letting the stripes do the work. It was based on a dress from a show at the Cincinnati art museum. Take a look at the inside of the bodice and you'll see the boning and bust pads. These dresses are not worn with corsets, so the boning and pads help give the period silhouette. If I had my way, they would all wear corsets, as the posture would then be better and the look more correct for the period.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Beautiful dress Edwina! Interesting how you get the interior shaping.....