I love the 1890s. Depending on what time of year you want to wear the dress or the look you are going for you can make it out of light or heavy cloth. I have several dresses pictured on my website, ranging from lightweight silk chiffon with china silk, to taffeta or thai silk, to satins, to silk blend brocades and bengalines.
http://www.vintagevictorian.com/Dress_1890.html Also keep in mind that if you are doing a large puffed sleeve (probably not a problem for 1892) it will need support to stay puffed and the heavier the cloth the harder it will be to keep it puffed. Hems can be stiffened with haircloth or canvas if the fabric is heavier or for lighter fashion-fabric organza can give just a bit of extra body. Katy On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 8:09 PM, Rebecca <lotsofteap...@charter.net> wrote: > I am working on an 1892 ball gown using Truly Victorian patterns. I was > hoping for some fabric suggestions when I received the patterns, but none > were there. This is a brand-new era for me. Can anyone give me a rough idea > of types and weights of fabric that would be appropriate? I imagine silk > would be correct, but what kind of silk? lightweight dupioni or heavier > satin, or something else entirely? And what would be good modern, > cost-effective substitutes? > > > > Thanks all very much! > > > > Rebecca Schmitt > > aka Agnyss Cabot, Guilde of St. Lawrence, Bristol Renn Faire > > > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > -- Katy Bishop, Vintage Victorian katybisho...@gmail.com www.VintageVictorian.com Custom reproduction gowns of the Victorian Era. Publisher of the Vintage Dress Series books. _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume