English Country Dance Costumes

My third dress was a new adventure!  We have a Playford ball once a year in our area, and I wanted something different, that would be appropriate for earlier time periods.  This was the result of my research into the earlier days of costume, using largely Janet Arnold’s book of early patterns for confirmation.   Both the dress and the stays were made from patterns by J.P. Ryan, and I found them easy to work with.  I settled on somewhere in the 1770-80’s, the versitile open gown (Robe a la Anglaise) with petticoat.  But of course I had to start with the proper underpinnings, so the next step was the full stays.  I made mine open down both front and back, for added size adjustment and ease of getting into them.  Here are the stays, all the finishing was by hand, but I did sew the boning in by machine.

These show the eyelets that I made by hand, using a metal ring to reinforce it on the inside, which is apparently period correct.

Next came the dress, which I could now fit over the stays.

Here it is, made from green Dupioni silk, with a polyester satin embroidered petticoat.  I aim to get some embroidered silk for the petticoat, but need to save my pennies!  The fabric at the sleeves is not correct, is modern poly chiffon, but I have the silk to replace it, and to add a fichu at the neck.  There are green silk rosettes on the braid, at neckline, and at the end of the skirt decoration.  There are ribbon ties which are attached to the side seams at the back of the skirt with rings in two places on the seam, so that the back of the skirt can be drawn up a la polonaise for dancing (see the last image).

I am in the process of altering it a bit, as you can see it is a bit loose in the bodice, just by taking a long tuck beside the boning that supports the front opening.  At some point I will make some pocket hoops which would have been worn with this sort of dress, but it is easier to dance without them.  In that case I will have to recut the petticoat, and have left extra hem to allow for widening the skirt to fit the hoops.

Here is another gown made from the Folkways Empire Gown pattern, my fourth ball gown altogether.  This time I added a simple frill at the front neck, which was made by extending the turn fabric for the casing so that the casing is lowered from the fabric fold, and when the drawstring is pulled up, a frill results.  The drawstrings exit in two places in this dress: one at the front inside, so that I can adjust the closing over the bust, and one at the back to close the back opening snugly.  The trim is also around the hem.

The sleeves were enlarged (1″ to length, 2″ to width)  and a ‘waist band’ (really an under bust line band) inserted to lower it a bit to the slightly later time period that goes with the flared skirt.  I added some stiffer linen to the gathered sleeve cap in an attempt to make the sleeves stand out more, but really you need interfacing in the whole sleeve if you want the “big sleeve” look.  Again, this pattern is very adaptable.

Here is the whole dress, with the back shown below (out of focus slightly, sorry!)

Here is the gown on my trusty form Lucy.  This second gown I made from the Folkwear Empire dress pattern, and I was very pleased.  Since it is adjustable (drawstrings around the neck, tied at the back), fitting was no problem.  However, I did need the proper undergarment for bust support as the bustline is historically correct and higher than current fashion.  I substituted a made-over (read compressed!) long-line strapless bra that I had, and for the occasional ball, this works fine.  However, in the long term, it is better to have the correct garment.  Sense and Sensibility has an undergarments pattern which should be quite satisfactory, although I have not used it yet.

The pictures above show the detail on the sleeve (the pattern has three on each sleeve) and the lace and ribbon detailing.

I see this pattern as sort of transitional….the bodice is short and constructed as the garments of the late 1790’s and early 1800’s, with the small back and extended sleeve hole, but the skirt is slightly flared and has a reduced amount of fabric gathered into the back, more like garments after 1810.  This makes it versatile for adaptation.

The first one I tried was from the Sense and Sensibility pattern. I had planned it for weeks, pouring through Ackerman’s Costume Plates, and decided on a combination of the two images below, using the draped overdress, and the draped sleeves.

Here I am wearing the dress.

Rosette on the sleeve

Rosette on the overskirt, above the petticoat

Hello, you have reached the blog of Lynn Macintyre. This is where you can find my stories about creating costumes for English Country Dance. Please comment, especially if you have an interest in historic construction, or contact me if you would like a gown made for you. More to come……!