Construction Details:

For the dress, I used the JP Ryan pattern for a Robe a l’Anglaise and took inspiration from a couple of polonaises pictured in Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion. The costume includes 18th century underpinnings that I made: a chemise, a corset, and a bum roll (basically a crescent shaped pillow to be tied around the waist for a later 18th Century silhouette than panniers).

The trim was the most time-consuming part of the costume. It was all handmade by cutting strips of the dress fabric with scalloped pinking shears and carefully applying gum arabic along the scallops (a historical method to help prevent fraying). Then, I box pleated the strips by hand and sewed them to the dress along the neckline and sleeves and in a serpentine pattern along the front of the skirt. The skirt includes loops of ribbon sewn to the inside so it can be pulled up and tied into the polonaise style.

The flounce on the petticoat was made by cutting triangular shapes along the edges of a wide strip of fabric and applying gum arabic as on the dress trim. This took much longer than the other trim because of the constant changing of angle for the triangles. I used small triangles for the top and larger ones for the bottom. The flounce measured approximately 20 feet long before being gathered and sewn to the petticoat.

The wig worn with the costume is the same one from my Lia costume, a Claudia in Light Blonde with the bangs trimmed plus a curly clip. And has a ribbon made out of the dress fabric.

The shoes are a pair of 18th century style reproductions from American Duchess. They were originally white silk and I tea dyed them to a cream color to better match the creamy shades in the costume. And they tie with bows made out of extra dress fabric.

Personal Thoughts:

This was inspired by the costume tea party at Costume Con several years ago, where several of the historical costumers wore striped 18th Century polonaises. I found a striped cherry blossom fabric by a Japanese company and was reminded of those dresses. I thought it would be cute for a similar gown even if the print wouldn't be historically accurate for the period and a fun way to combine historical costuming with Japanese influence.

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