Early Victorian Dresses 1837-1856
We start our journey into historical clothing with the ascent ion of Queen Victoria to the throne of Great Britain in 1837. The early victorian era would be characterized by dropped shoulders on the bodice supposedly giving the form a feminine grace. Sleeves would be very full at the shoulder- leg-o- mutton style, in the late 1830 and gradually collapse from the shoulder downward in the early 1840s until by the late 1840's the sleeves were very slender- then in the early 1850's they would gradually expand again- this time at the lower arm to form the "pagoda sleeve"
The following are examples of some of my designs from this era.

School marm- 1849-1851 Made for the Buffalo Bill Historic Center in Cody, Wy. This is taken from an original dress in my collection- with a few minor changes. On the original the dress was fully lined- even the skirt and made of a brightly printed blue linen- This one is a subduded taupe/grey/black plaid tropical weight wool. The fronts are arranged on the bias, with a center front seam and fan pleated drapery on a fitted cotton lining. The waistline dips to a low point, and the hem of the skirt is lined 10 inches up with a white chintz fabric. The dress fastens in the back with hooks and eyes. We special ordered this fabric and were very disappointed to find that it was not 100% wool... but it was too late to get new fabric .

School marm- 1849-1851 Made for the Buffalo Bill Historic Center in Cody, Wy. This dress was fashioned after an extant dress on the internet

1822-24 Carriage/Riding Dress (ok so this is more regency/romantic and definately pre-victorian) A fun dress made on period lines with a few "allowances" we needed a dress appropriate for riding and outside appearances, with the high waist of the early 1820's and a lot of visual punch. I chose a bengaline moire for both fabric character and durability, and added bengaline piping in a rust color and jacquard ribbon in rust, scarlett, mustard yellow and silver. The dress is one piece closing with a "dog leg" style closure. Two matching hats, a large promanade hat, as well as a riding hat were created to go with this outfit. These feature hand-dyed ribbons and feather trim especially to match the rust piping and jacqard ribbons.   Neck detail showing ribbon trim Covered buttons and handsewn trim add to the class of this outfit.

Please Select Continue for Civil War Era Dresses

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