The simple gown you envision is very "Jane Eyre" and exists. Complicated sleeves with pleating and poufs of course exist too, and sleeves were more complicated early in the decade. The bell shaped sleeve is the start of the 1850's look so they are near the end of the decade. It's been my experience that plain fabrics, and things like shot taffeta, will usually have some self fabric thing going on, like pleatings, and ruchings on the sleeves, bodice and sometimes the skirt. Fabrics with a pattern, print or stripe are often more plain, letting the patterns do the decorating.... like the bodice cut on the bias with stripes meeting down CF in a chevron. The 2 piece tight sleeves will often have the stripe running on the straight of grain at the top, but as the sleeve pattern curves, the stripes end up on the bias on the lower part of the sleeve.(a look I like). One thing that catches the period, and would do it in a simple gown, is the deep point CF and long sleeves with a wide! horizontal decolletage, even in day wear.(I've seen one gown with longish mancherons, or a short sleeve from under the long tight sleeve emerged.It turned out the long sleeve buttoned in several places to a small short sleeve made of lining hidden under the mancheron. The lower sleeve could be removed, leaving the "short sleeve" mancheron. This made the gown an evening gown.) Another great detail is how the skirt is attached. Usually gathered or tightly pleated all the way 'round the waist....even down and around the point.
-----Original Message----- From: Elizabeth Walpole <elizabeth.r.walp...@gmail.com> To: Historical Costume <h-cost...@indra.com> Sent: Sat, Jun 25, 2011 7:21 pm Subject: [h-cost] 1840s question Hello everyone, I'm trying to pin down some plans for some taffeta I bought a while ago. When I bought it I had a picture in my mind of what I thought of as a 'typical' 1840s dress with a very plain dart-fitted bodice (perhaps with a pointed waist) and tight sleeves. But now that I'm actually looking at images and extant garments that look like what I'm thinking of. What I've seen is either a shirred/fan front bodice with plain fitted sleeves or a darted bodice with rather more complicated sleeves (e.g. the puff below the elbow or some variation on a trumpet/funnel shaped sleeve) So essentially what I'm asking from the collected 19th century wisdom on this list, is my idea a rarity or non existent or perhaps it belongs to another era. Elizabeth -- ------------------------------------------ Elizabeth Walpole http://magpiecostumer.wordpress.com/ http://magpiecostumer.110mb.com/ _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
