Inspired By: the LACMA gown - Part 1

Facebook Memories (which is a really handy tool!) tells me that it has been exactly one year since I started patterning and draping this gown.  Of course, I had been thinking about it and dreaming about making it and formulating plans for several years before that, but I first put pencil to muslin to begin working on the actual shapes for the gown on May 12th, 2019. 

I wish I could pinpoint the moment I learned about this gown and fell in love with it.  I was living in Washington State when LACMA debuted their "Fashioning Fashion" exhibit, and I believe I was given the gorgeously detailed exhibit book for Christmas that year.

Here is the gown in question:

And here is some information about the provenance of the gown and its style details, at least what I've been able to gather from the museum website, the textile curators I've spoken with, and other pictures I've found of it online.

The museum's description states that it is from France, ca. 1785.  The textile is a "silk plain weave and silk twill," and it's designated a robe a l'anglaise, which is a term for a gown that has a back bodice cut in one with the skirt, with the rest of the skirt panels stitched together and then pleated onto the bodice.  It's a round gown, so the front part of the skirt is separate from the bodice and acts as a petticoat, tying around the waist to the back, with the ties hidden under the bodice.  The front bodice pieces have strips of eyelets sewn to their linings that can be laced up to hold the fronts in place slightly overlapped, and then they are pinned together, but the lacing is what bears the strain rather than the pins.

What's interesting about this gown is that if you look closely at the bodice (and there are images that allow you to zoom closer in on the details here) you can see that there are, for lack of a better term, "flaps" that come around from the side and end halfway across the bust.  They don't meet at the center, they just kind of stop midway across the bust.  There's a style that came into fashion around the time of this gown's given date called a "zone" front, so named because there is a "zone" (from the bottom of the bodice to about the sternum) that is one fabric, and then flaps in a different fabric that are either pointed or rounded that meet at the center at the top of the bodice.  But that's not exactly what this is; there are those who believe that it's evidence of the gown having been altered at some point, but I'm not certain that's the case.  Either way, it's a unique feature that demonstrates that this gown is right on the cusp of a change in what was fashionable, and it was either updated to reflect those new trends, or it was done this way as a kind of compromise.

Even though I have still never actually seen this gown in person, it's easy to see that it has a lot of presence and impact, and of course I was drawn to it because of the striking purple and white stripes (purple being my favorite color!).  But the other thing that really started to get me thinking seriously about trying to make my own version of this gown was its date and place of provenance: France, 1785.  Since Abigail Adams is my historical persona, I'm always thinking about what her wardrobe would have actually consisted of at various times in her life. 

In spring of 1778, John Adams (accompanied by his son John Quincy), sailed to Europe as "Minister Plenipotentiary."  His first posting was ostensibly to join Dr. Franklin in France and negotiate an alliance between that country and the newly formed United States.  Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, the treaty had already been signed, but he remained and spent some time in Spain and in Amsterdam seeking financial support for his fledgling country before finally being appointed Ambassador to the Court of St. James in London.  After many years of pleading from John, Abigail finally joined him in Europe in 1784.  More specifically, she joined him in Paris in 1784.  So in the year 1785, she was living with him in France, and she had learned pretty quickly that being the wife of a lawyer, farmer and Delegate to the Continental Congress was very different from being the wife of a diplomat.  She deplored that she would never be completely up to date with French fashions. 

There is no documentation specifically linking Abigail to this gown (in fact I don't know if there is any information about who owned and/or wore it) but it's certainly reasonable to assume she had a gown (or several!) similar to this style.  She may not have been inclined to wear something this intricately patterned and showy; I gather from her letters and wills and inventories that she seemed to prefer simpler styles in plain woven fabrics.  But we definitely know how much she enjoyed shopping.  The Adamses' friendship with Jefferson was solidified in France; Jefferson even left his daughter Mary ("Polly") in Abigail's care for a considerable amount of time.  When the Adamses had relocated to London and Jefferson remained in Paris, Abigail sent letters to Jefferson giving directions for him to order her and Nabby several pairs of silk shoes, trusting him to know which were the most fashionable colors.

The next post on this dress will dive into the process of making it, starting with that amazing fabric!!

A few random updates

This will be a short post, mostly just to show that I have finished stitching the bottom binding down to the front (brocade) side of one half of the stays.  It was really hard getting the binding to play nicely around all of those tabs (especially stitching in the really tight turns), but I started to get a good feel for it about halfway through, so I think the next one will go more quickly.  I am hoping to get the binding turned and stitched down to the coutil side tomorrow, plus the bottom binding on the other half.  Then I will "only" have the eyelets to sew, and I will finally be done with these stays.

In other news, the fabric for Abigail's gown arrived from India!!!  I feel like I should be writing this by hand in a letter rather than a blog post ;-)  I am really, really happy with it.  If you look at the image shown on the eBay auction compared to the pictures I took of it, there's a slight difference in the saturation of the colors, but that's to be expected both with different cameras and lighting and also with block-printing and dyeing by hand.  They also may have used a photo of a different batch of fabric, but they provided full disclosure that variations might occur in the course of the fabric production process.  It was a little nerve-wracking to place the order not really knowing for sure what it would like when it got here, but to me that's part of the thrill of using period-correct fabrics.

eBay auction photo

My camera with flash

My camera without flash

And honestly?  I actually prefer it slightly subdued.  The colors are still nice and bright, and I love love LOVE that it has three (possibly four?) unique colors in the design (which is much closer to extant examples than the monochrome scrolling floral designs you see nowadays).  The best part is that the reds are more pinky/rosy than orangey/red, because I think rosy/pinky reds are better with my complexion.

And because I realized I haven't shared this yet, here's a picture of the pattern I'm using for my gown.  Since I have 10 yards of this fabric (did I mention it was only $5.50/yd??), I'm wondering if it would be overly cutesy to use it for Ziva's "Nabby" dress also.  I'm sure it's historically accurate that if there were enough yardage left over after making mom's gown, it would be made up into clothing for the little ones.  And even if it's not, I think being in the same fabric might help visitors understand that we are portraying a family.  I will have to think about this one.  I don't think I have a whole lot of other options currently in my stash, and I don't want to purchase any more fabric for this project if I can possibly help it.

I did something!

Look, I cut things out!!  These are the pieces for the stays* that I cut out of cheap muslin so I can do a trial fitting before tackling my coutil.** I wanted to trace down the guidelines for the boning channels, but I had to stop here because I couldn't find any tracing chalk.*** I brought a lot of my sewing stuff with me to Connecticut last fall, so my best guess is that it's still in a box somewhere.  Grrrr!  So, this is the extent of my progress for now.  A friend of mine just opened a fabric store in downtown Bremerton, Dylan Fabrics, but like just opened, so she's still getting everything organized and on the shelves.  If she has tracing chalk in stock I will go tomorrow and get some (hooray for an alternative to JoAnn!!)

I am using the "Half-Boned Diderot Stays" pattern by Nehelenia Patterns, which I bought from (guess who?) Dylan Fabrics!  It's a pattern company that is new to me, so I'm excited to dive in.  I also bought the "Open Robe 1730-1760" pattern by the same company.  1760 is a tad early for this specific reenactment, but the Americas were slightly behind the Continent as far as fashions go.  The other thing I like about this pattern is that as an open robe, I can make a few different petticoats**** and switch them out,

Oh, and I almost forgot, I ordered fabric for my gown!  I got 10 yards of this block-printed fabric from India on eBay.  Even if I make the petticoat out of the same fabric, the gown won't require 10 yards, but it won't hurt to have extra in case of mistakes.  I'm a little nervous about when the fabric will arrive, since it's being shipped from India, but even if it's on the later side I should have plenty of time.  I have plenty to do until it gets here!

Here's a picture of the gentleman who portrays John Adams.  He's on the right.  On the left is, of course, the venerable Dr. Benjamin Franklin, with George Washington between them:

Photo credit: IL Martin

Doesn't the green in the fabric I bought match John's suit nicely?  I think it will be a good subtle nod to the fact that they are husband and wife.

Definitions, for those not familiar with sewing and historical costuming terms:

* Another word for a corset
** Coutil is a strong, heavy twill fabric used in corsetry.
*** Tracing chalk comes in one-sided sheets. You put a sheet face down on the fabric and run along the lines on the pattern piece with a marking wheel, and the chalk markings are transferred to the fabric.
**** In this era, "petticoat" referred not to the unseen garments that added shape and lift to the gown (that would be an underpetticoat!), but to the skirt made of fine fabric, intended to be seen in the opening of a split overgown.  It could be the same as the main gown fabric or pull one of the colors from the design of the fabric.

Costuming stuff! Much to do and not a lot of time to do it!

As you may or may not know, last summer I portrayed Abigail Adams in an all-female production of "1776" put on by Reboot Theatre Company, Twelfth Night Productions, and Seattle Musical Theatre.  It was Reboot's inaugural show, and by all accounts a resounding success.  As a co-producer, I contributed funds as well as time and sewing know-how, assisting our amazing, talented costumer Barbara Klingberg. She did all of the designing, I just watched in awe and stitched whatever she gave me to stitch!  She churned out 24 historically correct and beautiful men's suits (cut for women's bodies) - that's breeches, waistcoats and frock coats - plus two elaborate and intricate gowns, one for me and one for Martha Jefferson!  All of this had to be made from scratch because, well, no one had done this before!  As a thank-you for my assistance, Barb gifted me my costume.

And now we're up to speed!  So, last month, I attended the Northwest Colonial Festival in Port Angeles at the beautiful George Washington Inn and Lavender Farm (check it out, it's such a beautiful location!).  I went with a couple of other ladies who are involved in a group called Somewhere in Time, Unlimited - historical costuming enthusiasts covering just about every era that sponsors some events and sends out regular notices about other groups' events as well (there tends to be a lot of overlap with membership in the other groups).  I wore my Abigail Adams costume, and at the afternoon tea we met John Adams and Benjamin Franklin!  The men were both wonderful interpreters and, as we were all also costumed, they set aside the roles for a few moments to talk shop with us (one of the ladies I went with had been Martha Washington the previous year).  John and I exchanged lines from "1776" and very nearly broke out in song.  It was lots of fun!  We took some pictures and chatted some more and they went off to finish out the day.

Well, what this is all leading to is that the gentleman portraying John Adams (who is about to play him in "1776" for the third time) told me about an upcoming event in Phoenix, AZ called Rebels and Redcoats (which goes November 4-6) and he wants me to come and participate and be Abigail!  He's hoping to get me a travel stipend to cover some of the costs of getting there.  Ziva can even come along and be "Nabby," the Adams's first daughter.

All that is to say - I've got a lot of sewing to do in a little less than two months!  As amazing as my costume was for the show, it would need a lot of alterations to make it authentic enough for living history interpretation, so if I'm going to put in the work, I might as well just start from the ground up.  I don't have a shift or stays (the costume had boning in the bodice, making it sort of stays-gown combination) so I will need to make those as well as a gown (and a pocket, if I'm feeling ambitious).  I have the cap I wore for the show, but I need to style a wig.  I also hope to make Ziva a shift and dress and accessories.  I've set up a Pinterest page with some fabric swatches as well as pictures of mothers and children and families to get an idea of how little ones were dressed, and it's kind of all over the place.  Some portraits show the children (sons and daughters) in almost Regency-esque chemise dresses with wide sashes, and others show the more typical 18th century shape - a bodice with a rounded point at the bottom and skirt gathered or pleated to it.  I think I'm going to try to replicate the latter.  But as far as I can tell, most commercial "colonial" patterns for children are of the "prairie" variety, so I'm going to make my first attempt at creating my own pattern for actual clothing.  Like, I've thrown together some pieces of fabric to make caps and aprons, but never for garments.  I'm starting small...literally!!

And finally, I will be blogging this whole project 1) to keep track of my progress and 2) so that I am accountable to myself and to you, dear readers!  I make a lot of ambitious plans and then lose steam, and I am determined not to let that happen.  Feel free to subscribe so you get an update whenever I put up a new post, and follow along!