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KalenHughes
Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100	Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:37 am    Post subject: Apron-Front Gowns   These go by lots of names, Apron-front, Drop-front, Placket-front, Stomacher-front. It’s all the same kind of dress, though. It was extremely popular from the turn of the century up through about 1812-1813. I would expect countrified (or poor) heroines to still be wearing it during at least the first half of the actual Regency, if not beyond. I have five extant examples to show you, as well as a reproduction of the one patterned by Janet Arnold. The examples here are all day dresses, but there are evening gowns with this same construction the Kyoto Costume Institute and Victoria and Albert collections. First I’m going to walk you through how the dress went on. This dresses are deceptively simple to put on, though in the pictures they look like an octopus: First you slip it on over the head (stepping into something when wearing a shift and petticoat is a real pain) Put your arms into the sleeves (which, depending on how tight/long they are, might require help; mine do). If it has ties attached to the back of the dress at the waist (some do, some don’t), pull them forward and tie them just under the breasts to help hold the dress in place. Take the side flaps of the bodice and cross them over the chest, pinning them (yes, with tiny brass straight pins) in place. Reproduction based on the Janet Arnold diagram (see next entry) by Katherine, showing the under-bodice closed over the chest Take the long ties that are attached to the front of the waist and wrap them around the back (all the extant examples I’ve seen have little belt loops on the back of the dress to help hold these in place). Bring them around and tie them off in front. Tuck the dangling ends down the front of the skirt, inside (I’m “assuming” these went inside as I don’t see them in paintings). Belt loops Skirts tied up Fold the bib up so it covers the chest and either pin it in place, or button it, depending on how the dress is made. Phewwwwwwwwwwww! _________________ -Kalen w/a Isobel Carr Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011 Book 1: The League of Second Sons www.isobelcarr.com
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KalenHughes
Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100	Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:37 am    Post subject:   Sketch by Janet Arnold showing an open drop-front dress, c. 1805 Pattern for same, along with a sketch of it partially open _________________ -Kalen w/a Isobel Carr Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011 Book 1: The League of Second Sons www.isobelcarr.com
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KalenHughes
Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100	Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:38 am    Post subject:   Red polka-dot example, c. 1808. _________________ -Kalen w/a Isobel Carr Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011 Book 1: The League of Second Sons www.isobelcarr.com
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KalenHughes
Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100	Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:38 am    Post subject:   Sprigged muslin with a sash, c. 1810. _________________ -Kalen w/a Isobel Carr Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011 Book 1: The League of Second Sons www.isobelcarr.com
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KalenHughes
Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100	Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:39 am    Post subject:   Glazed cotton dress, c. 1810. _________________ -Kalen w/a Isobel Carr Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011 Book 1: The League of Second Sons www.isobelcarr.com
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KeiraSoleore
Moderator Princess Joined: 03 Oct 2006 Posts: 5898 Location: Seattle	Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 10:33 am    Post subject:   Kalen, are these the only kind of dresses that had a built-in shelf bra? Or did more dresses have that? And how would you wear a shift inside and shelf bra on top? And I'm assuming the single petticoat (a long skirt petticoat, right?) goes on top of the chemise. _________________ Medieval & Regency Writer keirasoleore.blogspot.com
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KalenHughes
Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100	Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:04 am    Post subject:   Everything goes UNDER the gown. Chemise, stays/corset, petticoat, THEN gown. This is they type of gown I use in my demo workshop (you should have seen the looks on people's faces the first time I started to take it off, LOL! I don't think most of them had ever seen what has now been nicknamed “The Octopus Gown” . Maybe I'll add a topic about the layers . . . _________________ -Kalen w/a Isobel Carr Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011 Book 1: The League of Second Sons www.isobelcarr.com
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KeiraSoleore
Moderator Princess Joined: 03 Oct 2006 Posts: 5898 Location: Seattle	Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 4:21 pm    Post subject:   You did a workshop where you undressed in public?? Brave! I get the sequence of the different layers now. Thanks for that thread. But, if she's wearing stays then, I don't understand the reason for the octopus shelf bra-like thing for this gown. The round gowns don't have them. Even if the girl was large bosomed, the stays would be sufficient to hold her up. _________________ Medieval & Regency Writer keirasoleore.blogspot.com
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KalenHughes
Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100	Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:03 pm    Post subject:   It's not a shelf-bra. It's a method of keeping the gown closed. There is no support there. If you wore the gown without stays, your boobs would just slide down . . . _________________ -Kalen w/a Isobel Carr Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011 Book 1: The League of Second Sons www.isobelcarr.com
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