Somewhere along the way I acquired a pack from the Northern Society of Costume and Textiles about a dress displayed at Castle Howard in the 90s. The linen dress had been worn ( as a disguise!) by the widow of the Comte Guillaume de Panthou, wife of Henry Seymour, to escape from Paris at the time of the Revolution. By that time it was second/third hand, owned by the wife of a Seine boatman, adapted and altered from earlier incarnations. Although fine linen, it was no longer an expensive or luxurious garment, the fabric dates probably from the 1720s and this was at least its third makeover. 
It was the bodice that interested me, the short body, fitted back, and the sleeve. The pack contained a gridded pattern to enlarge and detail drawings with notes. This was to be a quick slap it together at Gwen scale to see if this was something I would want to make for myself. An hour later it was done in the rough and I was making a smarter version for Gwen as part of her anachronistic pillowcase-wardrobe-in-the-making ( see the Victorian bustle dress). Never can keep things simple.....
As this was a reworked dress for a working woman how fashionable would it have been? Would it have been up to the minute? Was the style exactly what was desired or, like me, would compromises have been made? The photo above was the only one I could find for the dress so went looking for other sources for ideas of the front and closer detail on the peplum. Many do seem to have similar bodies but vary in skirt, sleeves and neckline. These source images and others are on my pet en l'air pinterest board.In the Liotard pastel study, the Chocolate Girl, 1744/5, the jacket is different in detail, winged cuffs, the longer peplum reads almost as coat tails, and it looks as if the front maybe gathered under the apron bib. What it does have is a flat front with the shoulders set well back, all of the in and out curves on the torso happen at the back.
I decided to take elements from both with a little bit of help from others such as the yellow c1750s example from Christies. This was never meant to be a precise recreation or totally historically accurate so a bit of mix and match wouldn't hurt.
The idea really was to make a short jacket/bodice with a flirty peplum. The fabric of choice was another Hobbs pillowcase- nice crisp cotton with a bold blobbish design. The plan was to unpick and use the short side for the bodice and the larger part for the skirt. The base pattern shapes are from the Revolution dress but unfortunately the peplum was a greedy thing so I ran out of fabric to do the 2 part long sleeves - the compromise was to 'borrow' a shorter single shape from Janet Arnold.
This is now complete, flat lined and with a contrast binding to finish the cuff and hem ( only because of fabric shortage- couldn't make my own bias). It behaved quite well, apart from the fraying fine calico as the lining, but it did take forever. The back and peplum are in 4 pieces, the front and shoulder in 2 as well, so lots of seams and finishing. In trying to speed this up I tried a stitching the top and lining fabric at the same time - http://stay-ingalive.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/how-to-do-weird-running-whip-stitch.html . This seems to be a form of ladder stitch now I look at it but I ended up producing a version of this. I whipped the return stitch over the top instead of coming back through the fabrics but it does work effectively enough. I, of course, didn't remember about this until most of it was done. The compromise sleeves look quite at home, the tuck at the cuff to create the elbow bend was a nice touch. The peplum is a bit exuberant, flirty I wanted but this is very outgoing, very 'pet en l'air'.
This is the first part of the outfit. Of course it needs the skirt. I borrowed my pet en l'air's skirt for the photos but it will need to be slightly longer at the back to compensate for a bigger bum roll. The Christie's side view has a very exaggerated bum, the peplum sticks out above the horizontal. I think a little less would suit Gwen, but will have to balance the peplum. I'm hoping this style will suit Gwen's body shape more than the white pelisse - already she looks to be more slender, the change in angle at the waist flatters.
By next week this should be done, and hopefully the illustrations to go with it. (It is going to have to be a Liotard-ish - but what on the tray? Chocolate.... cake? Coffee and walnut? TV dinner?.....) or maybe match the starker style of the Victorian bustle dress?
pattern source - NSCT pack 2.- A Dress of the Revolution- worn for escape- 1793. http://www.nsct.org.uk/
Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion 1, p 42 (sleeve)
Met Museum and V&A
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