So my story beings with a promise to myself: "Natasha, you will not buy more fabric until you have used what you have in your stash." As it turns out this was a great idea for getting rid of lots of notions, and scraps, as well as basics that I had been lugging with me quite literally across the country. I made my shift, stays, pockets and false rumps all out of fabric I had on hand.
Now when it comes to the dress fabric, well that is a different story. On hand, I have 8 meters of beautiful black brocade and was set on using it to make my first 18th-century gown. However, as it turns out black and brocade together are not particularly fashionable in this period. Anyone who has done even a small amount of research into 18th-century fashions will know that supple silk taffetas and printed cottons in bright colours were all the rage. So, what is one to do when stuck with heavy black brocade?
Well in my case, I researched, and researched and researched. I knew that black brocade would have existed in the 18th c. and there would have been garments made out of it (because if it exists then people do wear it), so I just had to find the right examples. In my research, I found scholars mention black petticoats and occasionally gowns, but never the type of fabric. And when scouring art and museum collections, I would find either a black dress or a brocade dress. Though I could find ample art records of black dresses, they were almost always of satin or taffeta, not brocade. I oscillated between feeling sad I wouldn't look like the gorgeous confections we are accustomed to seeing, and being determined to find an example of black brocade.
So I decided to focus on just black gowns for a while, and ignore the brocade. In the 18th century, it was fashionable to have a portrait in the Vandyke style, this was a black gown with big puffy white sleeve that created a striking look against the alabaster skin of these fair ladies. In many of the portraits, the women appeared to be wearing the exact same outfit right down to the accessories. And while looking at these Vandyke inspired portraits, it occurred to me that what made these firmly 18th-century gowns, rather than the 17th-century gowns they were mimicking, was the millinery and accessories. The hat and feathers, paired with the jewelry as well as the smaller ruffles and trims on the gown sleeve and neckline. It was the extra's that all kept these ladies decidedly contemporary in their fashion, not the colour or fabric of their dress.
In other black gowns too, I found it was the accessories that stood out and made the gowns less somber. Intricate trims, luscious feathers, and colourful ribbon all helped to create a firmly 18th-century look and one which is very bold compared to the usual confections of the day. Gold, pink, red and peach all seem to be popular choices to contrast against darker fabrics.
So for my own gown, I think I will take inspiration from these ladies and start with a simple gown and then go to town on the trimmings and accessories! It might mean making a new shift, and learning how to make a fabulous hat, but that is alright with me, just more skills to hone and learn. Have I mentioned how much better my hand stitching has gotten since starting historical costuming?
So the lesson is: there are many routes to an authentic look. Though perfectly accurate fabric is a bonus, less fashionable fabrics can be decked out to create an equally fashionable look. And you can bet your bottom that beautiful black brocade would not have been wasted in the 18th century, so I sure as heck am not going to either.
Resources
- My Pinterest Board full of 18th C. Images
- Berg, Maxine. "Women's Consumption and the Industrial Classes of Eighteenth-Century England." Journal of Social History 30, no. 2 (1996): 415-34.
- Ribeiro, Aileen. "Some Evidence of the Influence of the Dress of the Seventeenth Century on Costume in Eighteenth-Century Female Portraiture." The Burlington Magazine 119, no. 897 (1977): 834-32.
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