An olive green silk taffeta gown for Abigail

I'm excited that I have a plan for this one!

I've been trying to decide what style of silk gown to make for 

Abigail Adams - Historical Interpreter, circa 1776.  John and Abigail were not wealthy at this point in their life together (in fact it would be closer to the truth to say that they struggled with money for their entire marriage).  So although she would in all likelihood have owned at least one or possibly two silk gowns "for best," I can't really see her having an extravagantly fancy silk gown.  

The other factor that is affecting this decision is that I almost always interpret alongside Martha Washington, and the woman who portrays her at most of the events I attend usually wears a center-front closing peacock blue gown, with gathered self trim around the neckline and cuffs, plus lace engageants (sleeve ruffles).  So I want there to be a clear contrast shown with our gowns demonstrating the difference in wealth and "showiness" between a Virginia plantation owner's wife and a Boston lawyer/farmer/Congressional delegate's wife. I bought 7 yards of a drab olive green taffeta when I was in NYC for Mother's Day:

It was $22/yd and I love it!  It has really nice luster.  But it's just been sitting there waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. Well, I think I've *finally* found my inspiration. It's this Brown/greensilk brocade gown in the collection of the Chicago History Museum.

There are some oddities about it, like the very high front neckline and gathered/ruched (???) collar. 

The lack of pleating on the side fronts of the skirt also caught my eye.  In most gowns from the second half of the 18th century, the pleats carry from the back all the way around to the front.

It looked to me like it had the hallmarks of an earlier gown that had been restyled.  I shared all of these thoughts with a group of 18th century enthusiasts and experts on Facebook, and they confirmed that this dress was remade from a fancier 1760s gown.  If you zoom in really close to the front bodice, you can just barely make out straight up-and-down pleats that have been unstitched, indicating that it used to be an open-front gown with robings which would hide the pins fastening the gown over the stomacher.  I believe the sleeves originally had cuffs, as well.  

It's really encouraging that my olive silk is close to the color of this one - well, mine is a little more green than brown, but it's definitely in the same family.  And the inspiration is a brocade and not a plain silk, but it still feels good to be in the right ballpark. I like that the gown is made to be worn with panniers, but isn't ostentatious. In fact it's almost under-adorned, so I would probably add some floof here and there, but again, not a huge amount.

I'll be using the Larkin and Smith English Gown pattern to make this dress.  This is my first time using this pattern for a gown, but obviously not my first time making this style (I loved working with the Nehelenia pattern, but I think I'm ready to try ).  Larkin & Smith is essentially a workshop in an envelope, providing years of expertise and knowledge with the pattern, including fully historical sewing instructions and lots of ideas for embellishment for the different classes. I have all of the necessary undergarments except a set of panniers, and I'm working on those right now.  

Details on the panniers will go in a separate post!