A Fractured Fairytale

When I was visiting England in 2016, I was lucky enough to examine many extant 18^th century and early 19^th gowns in detail, not once but twice! First we spent an afternoon studying at the Bath Fashion Museum, and the next morning we got to see even more gowns at the Leicestershire Museums Collections Resource Center. This was my first time inspecting original garments in detail, in person. Seeing the interior of the garment, rather than just the whole on display, was an eye-opening experience. I learned so much in just a few short hours, not only specific details of a particular style of dress, but also general construction methods and attitudes toward garment making. It really changed my views on a lot of things and gave me a better understanding into the mindset of a 18^th century seamstress.

  First, 18^th century fabrics were lighter and more delicate than I could imagine. Looking at a dress in a museum or in a book, what we would imagine as thick, heavy brocade on a franciase was actually a crisp and airy fabric. The ones we handled were almost like a tissue taffeta. And don’t get me started on how fine the muslins were! It gave me a better grasp on what to look for when shopping for projects.


If it didn’t show, and sometimes even if it did, sloppy stitches were the norm. Yes, there were incredibly beautiful and detailed embellishments and embroideries, tiny and perfectly even backstitches, but they were mixed in with giant sloppy running stitches, whipstitches, and raw edges. Nine out of ten garments were sewn so sloppily that that I would be embarrassed to own them as my own handiwork. There were a couple of dresses where it was clear that the seamstress wanted a nicely finished dress, but for the most part, the main goal was to have a new gown, not produce a work of art. I know that I will still be as meticulous as I can with stitches and seam finishes with my future projects, but it's freeing to know I don’t have to be. It takes the pressure off when something doesn’t go quite right. I've included examples of two dresses in this post, but that is definitely not all of the garments that I saw finished in this sloppy manner.
 
Along those same lines, symmetry in the garment was not a priority, especially when it came to sleeves. Sleeves on the same dress could have different numbers of pleats on each sleeve head or a giant seam allowance on one side and a tiny one on the other. The dresses and sleeves were obviously fitted to an individual body, and the dressmaker did what they needed to do to “make it work”.
 
A few other things jumped out at me while I was examining the garments. First, the use of the selvedge edge for lots of things, not only seams, but front skirt edges and even robings edges! I saw shaped hems and facings on a lot of the 18^th century dresses. I usually skip these out of sheer laziness, but I think I will try to incorporate them into more gowns. Also, looking at the 1790s transitional gowns and early 1800s gowns, I noticed a lack of side seams. You see this pop up in lots of scaled patterns as well, but most every dress had a side piece that wrapped from the side back of the bodice around to the front.
 
I know I am incredibly fortunate to have been able to examine extant garments in person, but if you get the chance, I can’t recommend it highly enough. It will completely change your perspective and you can learn so much from just a brief session. It’s a whole different experience to looking a garments online or in books. Seeing the three-dimensional garment really brings it to life!