1860s Decision, Made! I think...
Ok, here's the tentative plan for my forthcoming 1860s ball gown.
It'll be a mix between these two gowns, pretty much. Blue silk taffeta with lots of black lace! Elliptical-style hoop, with the emphasis on the back. Berta neckline with short black lace, tiny sleeves with short black lace, apron overskirt trimmed with small ruffle and longer black lace, and the bottom of the big skirt will have a big double ruffle trimmed with longer black lace. I couldn't find a single example of beaded fringe, so I won't be doing that. Extants and portraits had lace or bullion fringe, and I like lace better.
I'm also going to plan to make a civil-war era day dress. I can't walk around ghost towns in a freakin' ball gown, I just can't. So, I'll do somewhat of a copy of this dress from the Kyoto Institute: sheer white cotton with colored ribbon accents, v-necked bodice (documentable!), long sheer sleeves. Might even make it to match that adorable teal bonnet I bought at CoCo.
It'll be a mix between these two gowns, pretty much. Blue silk taffeta with lots of black lace! Elliptical-style hoop, with the emphasis on the back. Berta neckline with short black lace, tiny sleeves with short black lace, apron overskirt trimmed with small ruffle and longer black lace, and the bottom of the big skirt will have a big double ruffle trimmed with longer black lace. I couldn't find a single example of beaded fringe, so I won't be doing that. Extants and portraits had lace or bullion fringe, and I like lace better.
I'm also going to plan to make a civil-war era day dress. I can't walk around ghost towns in a freakin' ball gown, I just can't. So, I'll do somewhat of a copy of this dress from the Kyoto Institute: sheer white cotton with colored ribbon accents, v-necked bodice (documentable!), long sheer sleeves. Might even make it to match that adorable teal bonnet I bought at CoCo.