Half-Scale Victorian Dress

In my "History of Costume" class, we had to design and construct a half-scale version of a historic costume. I chose Victorian because it's one of my favourite periods and I could have a bit of fun with it.

The pattern I used was from an old Eaton's catalogue late 1880. It had instructions on how to draft your own patterns based on measurements given. I simply took the measurements and cut them in half and viola, a half-scale pattern was born.

I used several kinds of silk, taffeta, and lace in this creation. I found some cute Victorian-looking buttons and glued them along the front (since it didn't matter if it actually closed up at the front). I even constructed a boned crinoline cage for the inside of the skirt so it would be free-standing and give the bustle in the back a nice shape. The bustle was the trickiest part, since there were no instructions in the catalogue on how to drape and shape the bustle, so I just eye-balled it.

Designs (c) Ashley Perry.