Building A Jane Austen/Early Regency Era Wardrobe

I have a costumed retreat coming up this summer, so I’ve been slowly working to put together outfits with the goal of having 4 complete costumes, a banyan, and some mix and match accessories by the time the retreat rolls around in August.

I had a Jane Austen-themed tea to attend this past weekend. I made a new costume, in hopes of rewearing it (maybe with different accessories) at the retreat.

Instead of knowing what I wanted the final costume to look like, I had an aesthetic inspiration painting, by Henri Francois Mulard, ca. 1810. I’m playing fast and loose with the time period, since I like the silhouette of the 1790’s better.

I liked the painting because even though her outfit is simple, she has a LOT of color and pattern going on.

If I were being strictly true to the painting, I would have started with a white dress, but I went with royal purple shot cotton instead. I built out from there with the accessories, going for simple, but colorful, like the inspiration painting.

Using purple for the dress definitely complicated things. Until I had my clothes laid out for the event and was frantically pulling on layers between the morning church service and the tea, I wasn’t sure how it was going to come together. I had multiple necklaces, scarves, and shoes lying around calling, “pick me, pick me!”

I used my underpinnings from the last tea – you can see more about that here.

I made a new collared chemisette, based on the one from the American Duchess guide. I felt especially proud about this because I made it using upcycled fabric from an old cotton infinity scarf I never wore, and I drafted the collar myself. It’s handsewn except for the unseen seams connecting the four pieces of the collar. The pattern calls for cotton shirting, but I used voile because it was what I had, and I needed to keep the outfit as lightweight as possible since it’s for summer use.

The purple dress was supposed to be the cross-front dress from the Elegant Lady’s Closet Pattern from Sensibility. I had some trouble with the bodice – even after a small bust adjustment, it was too bulky. Attaching the skirt, especially in a cross front style, was going to accentuate what I didn’t like about the bodice (could have avoided this by making a few mock-ups). I switched over to using the American Duchess instructions for the 1790’s pleated bodice dress, and scrapped the plan for the cross front skirt. I clipped off the pointy bits at the front of the bodice and instead made it drawstring closure in the front, adding two additional drawstring channels for a total of three to gather in some of the extra fabric at the bust. I used three full widths of 44″ fabric for the skirt, and made the back panel slightly longer for a bit of a train. One of the yard widths is ripped in half and made into side panels so there wouldn’t be a seam in the center front or back.

I machine-sewed the skirt panels with French seams, hand sewed the bodice, and machine basted the sleeves in. The sleeves are the ones that came with the pattern. I may have added a bit of width, and I cut them off above the elbow. I was going to include some openwork and beading on them, but I chickened out. Maybe someday I’ll come back to it.

I hand tacked the shoulder pleats to keep them in place, and gathered the skirt by whipping it with vintage fuschia silk buttonhole thread, which felt a bit sinful. I hand sewed the skirt to the bodice and hemmed the skirt by hand.

Note the low neckline at the top of the back – my shifts are all cut conservatively because I wear them as nightgowns and I don’t want to be hanging out of them. The chemisette covered the shift, but it did show through. If I use this pattern again, I’ll raise the center back by about an inch, which will take care of the problem.

Last time, my dress was a printed fabric with a white background over underpinnings that were also white. Purple over white was more obvious, even with the front pinned closed. Both the underpinnings, and the drawstrings made for a bold contrast when they peeked out.

After making one really nice dress from this time period, I thought a second one, even from a different pattern, would be easier and fit better. It didn’t work that way. I don’t think it was the fault of the pattern, other than that there could have been guidance for smaller busted ladies to get a better fit.

I made a sash with quilting cotton. It’s watercolor plaid, and it was the color and look I was going for. I hand hemmed it and made a fringe on each end. My final project was a new reticule. The one I made using the pattern from Sensibility was super tiny. I wanted something big enough to hold a few things beyond lip balm and a phone. I drew the shape I wanted on a piece of paper, and traced it onto a piece of upholstery fabric I got from a sewing thrift shop before the pandemic. I added beads and spangles, free-styling the pattern. It took a couple of days of picking it up whenever I had a free moment. I machine sewed the insides of the reticule, and zigzagged the edges of the outer fabric and the lining (a beautiful woven plaid) because the upholstery fabric was a bit shreddy and it felt silly not to finish the edges of the lining while I was at it. I made the ribbon channel for the handles by hand.

I discovered the night before the event as I was finishing it that I didn’t have any matching ribbon that was long enough. I found some cheap ribbon from a grab bag from the sewing thrift store to use, with the hopes of upgrading to something nicer later. I don’t even know what color would be best. Ivory? Pale Yellow? Rust? Some shade of green?My daughter informed me that the black tassel from my stash that I added to the pointed bottom of the bag didn’t match. I knew that, but I only had one tassel, and it was black, so that’s what I used. I made a turban with a beautiful, devilishly slippery piece of iridescent polyester fabric from Puresilks.com. I added a white voile neckerchief for contrast. Next time, I’ll use a hat pin or find another way to secure it. I was adjusting it all afternoon – it kept creeping around on my head. I stuck a feather from my stash in the top for some flare. I found the red coral necklace from a Ukrainian seller on Etsy. I wore blue clocked stockings from Samson Historical. They were my lightest weight stockings. I wore Moroccan slippers. The cotton shawl is from Anuprerna. Their focus is responsibly bringing back the beautiful, lightweight fabrics India has historically been known for, using skilled local artisans.

The parasol is from Outgeek. It’s got the pagoda shape you see during the time period, but it’s a bit big by historical standards (while being a bit small by modern standards!). My Irish skin needs the extra circumference, especially till I get around to making a Regency bonnet. In everyday life, I use the umbrella for shade and rain protection.I’ve been accumulating fabric, patterns, and supplies for costuming ever since I became interested in it, and have used them much more slowly than I’ve bought them. In that sense, it doesn’t feel fair to say I made this outfit from my stash. However, the only thing I bought for the costume while I was working on it was the polyester for the turban. Everything else, I had on hand.