Category: 1830s

1830s Riding Jacket

On By kittycalashIn 1830s

There’s a wonderful exhibit winding up a tour, and although I have not been able (yet?) to see it, the catalog was a Christmas present in 2022. One ensemble in particular captivated me: an 1830s unbleached linen riding jacket worn in Boston, MA. The enormous sleeves and oversized hat probably contributed to my fascination, and with a place to actually wear such a thing, making seemed like a good idea. Or at least an achievable idea. 

This journey started in July, 2022, and was finished in August, 2023. Things happened.

I started with a muslin mock-up, of course, using a previous year’s Spencer a l’Hussard as a starting point. (There is a point when you’ve made enough different things that you can kit-bash your way to many new garments.) The biggest change to the Spencer pattern was in the front closing and collar. The a l’Hussard has a standing collar and fastens with hooks, while this has a fall collar, lapels, and closes with buttons.

There are no published images of the front of the extant jacket, so I looked at both fashion plates and other extant riding habits, ultimately deciding to make a single-breasted jacket.

The construction is straightforward, and much like a gown from the period. The bodice is lined, while the sleeves are not. I took advantage of the smaller piece sizes to use up some linen cabbage, and got myself a flashy mis-matched lining as a bonus. One of the trickiest parts was figuring out sleeve supports. I had a melt down over the cage supports, which showed through the lightweight linen and looked awful. I tried them first because I was concerned about the heat down- or wool-filled sleeve puffs would generate for an Labor Day weekend event. In the end, I remembered that I had cotton organdy, and that crumpled up to a nice volume inside some polished cotton covers. These are made with twill tape to attach them to stay straps, if you’re wearing them under a gown; the straps slip over your arms and the puffs rest more or less on your biceps.

Unfortunately, I became anemic while I was making this, and attending a workshop not long before we were supposed to travel to New England wore me out to the extent that we could not travel. Truly annoying, both in thwarted plans and how lousy I felt. Many iron supplements and one appendectomy later, we decided we would make it to the Militia Muster event at Old Sturbridge Village. (It was quite a year.)

To finish this, I stitched on the black wool tape, outlinng back seams, the hem of the peplim, and the front edges. I couldn’t tell from the images whether or not the original had tape, but decided to err on the side of embellished, especially since the cuffs and collar were black velvet. I added custom black velvet buttons embellished with silk thread, made by Blue Cat Buttonworks. Truly lovely, and not within my skill level.

I had planned to wear this with the blue cotton skirt and a riding shirt or habit shirt, but I miscalculated the neck opening and ended up without enough time to restart, so I borrowed a shirt from Mr. K. Luckily the sleeve plumper fit over the shirt, and the jacket fit over all of it! The weather was lovely for early September in New England, and I spent a pleasant day talking about women’s sportswear and the rising interest in physical culture as part of a well-rounded and healthy education in the early 19th century.

The ensemble is accessorized with a black velvet wheel cap, for which Mr. K made the shiny leather brim. The reticule/workbag was made by Anna Worden, and the shoes are black leather Robert Land Regency slippers. The unbleached linen and checked linen lining came from Burnley and Trowbridge, while the skirt fabric came from a Rhode Island mill store remnant table. 

A Pelisse for Emma Smith

On By kittycalashIn 1830s, Clothing, making things

This was an interesting project that only needed to fit my small mannequin, which was a relief since the ultimate client was in Ohio.
It started with a conversation in the summer of 2022 about 1830s pelisses. I have an interest in the decade because we spend time at Old Sturbridge Village, and it’s a weird time period. I like the way that sleeves get smaller after the crash of 1837, and the various ways you can connect fashion and style to economics and politics. (See American Fancy, by Sumpter Priddy.)

Diana Sperling drew herself and her sisters– along with their brother Henry– walking to a neighbors for dinner in the 1810s

Pelisses were worn in the United States (and Europe) from the 1810s onward, though the bright scarlet wool cloak also persisted in use. The durability and water-resistance of the cloak, and the forgivingly loose fit, recommended them for continued use, Pelisses and cloaks were eventually superseded by sacques, dolmans, paletotes, and shawls, all of which accommodated the larger skirts and crinolines of the 1850s and 1860s. Many of these forms evolve but persist– think of the opera coat of the 1920s through 1960s, with its short sleeves, working over a range of silhouettes from shift dresses to tent dresses to bubble skirts.

The typical colors seem to have been green or brown, with some stripes appearing as well. For this garment, I selected a range of green-brown silks for the client to choose from and, eventually, we settled on Silk Baron’s Ardennes green silk taffeta and I ordered the yardage. The lining was made of Renaissance Fabric’s polished cotton-poly blend, as the closest material I could find to the polished or glazed cotton linings seen in period garments.

Lining and exterior, with fabrics for a wadded hood
I had help drafting shapes, of course.

The pattern was scaled down from my own Spencer pattern, and draped to fit the mannequin. The sleeve pattern was a bit of kit-bashing, working between the Past Patterns Lowell Mill Girl’s dress sleeve and my own 1820s sleeve. I chose to err on the side of less enormous, trying to walk a line between fashionable but not too outre. For Boston, I’d make enormous sleeves; for the shore of Lake Erie, northeast of Cleveland, I went a little smaller.

The bodice, sleeves, pelerine, collar, and skirt were all constructed with padded laters of woo batting between the silk exterior and the cotton lining. This was not a fun project to quilt, given the taught weave of both the silk and cotton layers, but the quilting and piping add snazzy details to the edges– and both were typical in pelisses, Spencers, and gowns of the period. 

The sleeve puff is achieved in part through tiny pleating inside, a technique copied from the 1820s original gown in my collection, which was handy resource to have on hand, if a bit of splurge.

If I were to make one of these for myself, I would look for a lighter-weight silk taffeta, and I would consider a striped fabric. Some pelisses are less shaped– that is, they’re made more like a bathrobe, without a separate bodice and skirt (see Jane Austen’s pelisse, patterned and recreated by Hilary Davidson), but I prefer the shaped silhouette.

Go Big When You Go Home

On By kittycalashIn 1830s, Clothing, Living History, Reenacting2 Comments

heading north

A year after moving, Virginia feels like home, even as I continue to experience accent-based misunderstandings and yearn for different apples. But if home is where the heart is, my home is split between the place where my kid grew up and goes to college, and where I live now. After having all vacations cancelled (thanks, Fairfax County Jury System), we scheduled one for the end of the summer, a chance to visit friends, antique (and buy a new school wardrobe for a college sophomore).

You can never have enough eagles or feathers.

The trip hinged on the Militia Days event at Old Sturbridge Village, with Drunk Tailor mustering as a member of the Oxford Light Infantry or “Ollies.” The OLI has a ridiculously shiny and ornamented shako, which contributes to the appeal of the impression. The early Federal-era militia units certainly appeal to me, with gold buttons, chain, tassels, and plenty of eagles everywhere. There’s a lot of visual myth-making to unpack there, and the fact that the muster re-enacts a sham battle makes it ever so much more so wonderful and New England. This is meta-enacting (or re-re-enacting), and I am all for it.

A new time period meant a new dress. And a new bonnet. And new hair– that last complicated by the new summer haircut. (I had a wool gown from the Turkey Shoot several years ago, but wool in August at Sturbridge is possible but not recommended.) So, what to wear? I remembered some lightweight chintz gowns in the Kyoto Costume Institute collections, and happily there’s one on their website (my copy of the book is still in storage). While I prefer the audacity of many of the reproduction cotton prints, the hand of the quilting cottons is often heavier than I want, so I ordered a print from India– one that has been used for many other dresses in different time periods.

With the antique lace collar I did not use, and the cut steel buckle I did.
piped seams!

The pattern is a straight-up version of the Past Patterns Lowell Mill Operative’s gown. The first 1830 gown I made was from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin pattern, which did not fit as well over the collar bones; the Past Patterns neckline resolves well and fits like a dream– the only change I would make the next time around is to make the back pieces smaller. I had way more overlap than I really needed, but otherwise, I was lucky that this required no adjustments to fit pretty well. Every now and then, it’s nice to have a break from drafting my own patterns and fighting with fit.

The Warren Commission

On By kittycalashIn 1830s, Clothing, Events, History, Museums3 Comments

Mrs Russell Warren, oil on canvas by Henry Cheever Pratt ca 1824. RIHS 1917.8.2
Mrs Russell Warren, oil on canvas by Henry Cheever Pratt ca 1824. RIHS 1917.8.2

In addition to the Pabodie Project due in November, I recently committed to appearing at the Providence Arcade on October 14 as Mrs Russell Warren at the party celebrating the launch of the Russell Warren project. As you might have gathered, she’s the architect’s wife, a role I know something about having observed the species in its native habitat for the better part of my life.

This look seemed achievable, once a few compromises were made. To begin with, I scrapped the notion of replicating a silk taffeta gown: too dear for so short a time. I felt some comfort in  this decision as I think the sleeves indicate a rather later date than 1824, and I am, in fact, striving for an Arcade-opening-appropriate dress suitable for about 1826.

So, what to do? Well, thank goodness men like to shoot at plywood and win feathers. My plan is to wear the brown striped gown with the existing belt and accessorize with a new antique lace pelerine-collar type device, I also  plan [hope to] make a new extreme jellyfish cap and possibly a new bonnet.

I have the supplies. Do I have the time and will power? Stay tuned for the next installment of, “Yes, I may be overbooked.”