Challenge #6 Victorian Mermaid Fairytale Dress

I finally completed my Fairy tale reinvention of ah historic dress.  My daughter loves The Little Mermaid so I decided to attempt an 1878 dinner dress.  First: the completed costume on my dress form.

 

Here is the inspiration dress.  It is in the collection of the Met Museum. It is a Lord and Taylor dinner dress in silk. It has a lovely side profile, but I was not too crazy about the front view.  Makes the wearer look rather broad through the shoulders.

 

 

I traced the photo to lay out how I wanted the three colors of blue to look.  I also smoothed out the edges of the train to make more mermaid rounds rather than squatted edges.

 

 

Here is my daughter in the dress.  We are a good two hours drive from the ocean so we took photos in the back yard. I also changed the back of the jacket to remove the long tails. I used TV428 for the jacket.  I did not put cuffs on it and I cut out the collar.

 

 

For the skirt and train I sort of created my own pattern.  There is also a bustle pad that I made.

 

 

 

 

 

I used shells and pink "coral" for the embellishments.  I envisioned more but decided I didn't want it to be over the top.

 

 

No sea but she did pose by the pool!

 

 

 

By the way, She is a size 2 in ready to wear.

I am so happy this is done.  On to the next.

 

Historic Sew Fortnightly:

The Challenge: #6 April First (LOL) Fairytale

Fabric: 100% polyester bridal and costume fabric from Joann's

Pattern: TV428

My own construction for skirt

Year: 1878

Notions: Thread, shells.

How historically accurate?: Umm, 30% for the patterning and technique. All machine stitched except for attaching the ruching and shells.

Hours to complete:  Untold, Don't ask! Way too much time spent thinking of how to do the skirt!

First worn: July 4, 2014 for photos.

Total cost: Approx. $100

 

Thank you for stopping by to see what I FINALLY accomplished.

Jeannine