Issue 17 - Civil War / Victorian Collaboration "The Violet Bustle Gown"

BbeautyDesigns
4 days ago
4 min read

As this is a Civil War and Victorian fashion collaboration I felt I had to include a bustle dress in my collection. Just as Sarah Tafelsky did earlier in the collection with her green bustle dress I worked on one in this violet purple color tone with a print.

I have always had a great love of fancy ball gowns in any time period. I love to watch as gowns take shape and style over different time periods to accent the woman's figure from the very dramatic to the very subtle. But because I enjoy a little drama (well a lot of drama) in clothing and especially gowns, I really wanted to have fun with the bustle dress. The shape of the bustle gown with all that fabric drawing attention to the rear takes a gown from just a sweeping train to an actual structure to accentuate the lady's backside. Throughout history we've seen the waists tightened by corsets super tiny, the shoulder's accentuated, the bustline raised, the bustline lowered, the skirts incredibly long, the skirts incredibly short, the midriff showing, the midriff not showing, sleeves in all different lengths and shapes, the hips accentuated, and so much more. And sometimes it feels like we are just wearing a big sign that says "Notice Me!". I enjoy the extreme shape of the bustle dress and couldn't wait to do one.

I used Pemberley Thread's Violet Dress Pattern shown above and then varied the overskirt to allow for two sides of gathered panels to drape a rather large bustle silhouette in the back. I'm not sure if I saw "Violet" and then subconsciously picked a violet toned fabric for this dress or if it was my enjoyment of seeing Addy in Victorian wear and knowing that dark skin tones are absolutely beautiful in purple, but my Violet dress ended up being Violet and we will say that it was absolutely intentional.

Below: (dark skin tones in Victorian purple tones are absolutely regal)

It was often hard to see what color Victorian dresses were in many portraits as practical color processes didn't happen until the 1890s. However, many modern tools we have now allow us to colorize old photographs and allow us to imagine what the fashion may have looked like.

With my color scheme I wanted to do almost everything in the print from the outer dress to the undergarments as a fun twist to a normal white. As white laces are common, purple laces are not so I used a custom dyed purple lace to trim the collar and the petticoat under the skirt as a fun way to introduce more color. But nevertheless I still used white lace at the front and the Victorian Boots in White to balance in the white amongst the prints.

A peek under the skirt reveals she is wearing the Victorian Boots in White. The hem of the petticoat just grazes the top making it a perfect length.

Sata from Sata & Haykush Designs graciously made me drop pearl earrings for this ensemble as well as furnished a crystal gold and purple brooch at the top of the lace cravat for this set.

I wanted the hat to be simple. I've collected many hat bases as they are so hard to find and I never know what I might need to go with custom outfits. I enjoy using a lot of vintage items integrating with my collections but sadly it does mean that it's harder to repeat if more than one customer wants it. So while I did make multiples of the dress, I only had one hat in this size. This one is a vintage hat that was a full-size hat for a 14" doll, but it happened to be the right proportion to be a mini-hat here. I made a custom band from the fabric and added purple ribbon ties so that it could be tied around the back of the head. I made sure her hair style was styled more at the back to accommodate a proper resting place for the hat. I enjoyed playing with slanting it over the eyes and sitting it dead center and I couldn't decide.

I really loved working with the front drape as it naturally creates fold lines and has the nice angle that is edged in the front. I positioned her hand up in this photo almost like she was about to walk forward in motion.

I wanted a very gathered back so I modified the overdrape to gather on both sides and lift up to give a different silhouette. The pattern calls for the pleated side portions to hang behind the drape, but I hand stitched it together as I don't like raw edges even if they are finished off hanging. I did find that stitching it together kept the draping where I wanted it as the doll moved and I was happy with that.

I wanted to make the set especially fun and if you followed along in our Rococo series I did the Pretty Panniers series where they were all made in matching prints instead of a standard white. I decided to do the bustle pad for this collection the same way and do it in the violet floral print. Above: a peek under the skirt shows the bustle pad and petticoat in the same print.