The French Revolution Dress of 1793

The finished Revolution Dress

This has been an interesting make, not just for the sewing. It has  gone in several directions so apologies for the epic saga of a post. As you can see it is not an accurate copy of the original but  apart from the proportions of the peplum, the fabric, the sleeves, the fastenings, and being adjusted to fit Gwen, it is fairly (vaguely)faithful. Well at least the skirt is. The real dress also  had history and a fascinating back story to go with it, I doubt that Gwen will ever be asked to flee from a revolution as Mrs Seymour did. She sounds like an enterprising woman but without much luck in her husbands. I have tried to find out more about her and her husband as part of the general background research but with mixed success.  The story, some sources and attempts at translation are at the bottom of this post.

The  NSCT pack went into detail about the condition of the dress, and the context of second hand clothing, its sock, as well as the history. The dress has been reworked and modified so often that there seem to be layers of stitching done in different threads and styles. It must have been an elegant garment once upon a time judging by the quality of the fabric, probably at least 3 incarnations ago. In some ways mine has done the reverse- it has been modified but often going back in time  for ideas as well as forward.


  Unfortunately the  instructions  have only really come together now that my version's made. This has been happening a lot, understanding is achieved after the event, one day I  look forward to knowing exactly what I am doing before starting...... Some things were not possible at this scale so the fine details of construction won't bear looking at. Right at the start the cut of the sleeve had too be altered to fit on the fabric and  the method of  insertion is wrong. It should not have been done as one piece but have been attached at the bottom and then the shoulder 'strap' sewn in place - ( http://americanduchess.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/setting-18th-century-sleeves-18th.html explains it better than I can  ). The tiny tails on the original bodice also proved a nightmare - the seam allowances were bigger than the tail itself so it grew to a manageable size.  Surprises were the lack of boning, this is a soft garment, not tightly fitted or excessively shaped. There are no fastenings, it was pinned closed to the stays worn underneath, ( mine has hooks and eyes for convenience). And as for the stitching - the back seams were meant to be like the cat's whiskers diagram below, I tried it and opted for the 'not quite right whipped seam' stitch (last post) and have since decided that neither were the best option for this - the stiffest part of the whole garment were these seams - it could stand up on them! Maybe my stitching is too small and dense (first time ever...) so instead of being a time/labour saver - several redone-redone seams later it is back to where it started. I've left the sleeve seam as the whipped seam as evidence of the attempt. I don't understand the logic of this technique - why leave the ridges? why not just fold open at the seam line? The lining could still be slipstitched on to enclose the raw edges..... ummm

 The skirt did go according to plan, It has a simple pleated front with a drawstring sewn into the side seam, running through a channel around the back of the  waist to tie at  centre back. The skirt is longer  at the back than the front, (really the front is lifted at the waist) to allow for the bumroll.  Although not as exaggerated  as in the illustration below the difference between hip and waist  gives Gwen  the illusion of a more slender torso. The fabric design has also worked well for this modified version- the bold asymmetric pattern may well have swallowed the more delicate detail of the original. Some of these dramatic Georgian styles lend themselves to this, they balance tailored shapes with volume to create contrast in the silhouette. I still have a couple of mad designs left to play with - might be interesting to see how a more restrained classic Regency look works. Mind you with the development of roller printing by the 1820s some of their own fabric choices were fairly challenging.  Not bad for a pillowcase though. ( am getting urges to make self covered buttons for the front, a couple on the back seams on the waist perhaps, at the cuff?)

 

This was billed as  "A Dress of the Revolution" but is a separate bodice and skirt.

It does feel odd calling this a dress, dresses are one piece garments - top and bottom together. Apparently not always. When matching bodice and skirt  together they equal a dress.
 What it would be when the top was mixed and matched  with another skirt?  The bodice followed the same kind of construction lines as a caraco made last year - what is the defining difference between them? Or could they be interchangeable?

 

And as for the illustration - have had some fun with this - took ideas from a different style of fashion plate - June 1790,  Journal de la Mode et du Goût, ou amusemens du salon et de la toilette, and painted it  to match the Victorian bustle dress illustration. The concept is good but  did rather overexaggerate the mannered pose and face (she doesn't really look that evil first hand).
Then the Liotard Chocolate Girl,  as promised last week- with cupcake. This photograph hasn't translated very well as the pencil work is quite light and delicate. It may require another try, but the stance and the dress have worked out very nicely ( she does look a tad grumpy though).
 

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The Seymour's story - The bare bones  - Henry Seymour married his second wife, Louise Therese  de la Martelliere, the widow of the Count of Panthou in 1775. The marriage had problems ( Mme du Barry) but in the early 1790s they had to flee to England and had their French estates seized. In escaping from Paris Louise Therese disguised herself in this dress  which had belonged to the wife of the boatman who helped them to flee.

There is a discrepancy over her name  which confused me -Louise Therese  de la Martelliere or Anne Louise Therese -the wandering 'Anne' !-  but what is clear is that the marriage, naughtiness with Mme du Barry,  and flight to England all took place. I am still not certain if they left France together or if Henry was already in England, was the marriage was on again or still off by then?    It is quite amusing finding the three of them listed on dating websites but I haven't found any portraits (only Mme du Barry), images of their houses, or  references to Mrs S. after the dress episode.  Mrs Seymour died in 1821 (or 1824)  and the dress and story were kept in the family then loaned to Castle Howard for exhibition in 1992.


Sources-

NSCT fact sheet- (gist of)
Mrs Seymour  was born  as  Louise Therese de la Martelliere. Her first husband was M. le duc de Panthou. She married Henry Seymour esq and lived  in Prunay. Husband Number 2 strayed, unable to resist the infamous Mme du Barry, a neighbour, and the couple separated early in the 1780s. In 1793 Louise fled Paris in 1793, acquiring the dress as a disguise on the way. It has been kept by the family ever since.

Dictionnaire de la noblesse ... de France

 By François Alexandre Aubert de la Chenaye Desbois

"  Louise la Martelliere, né le 31 Mai 1741, mariée, i. le 19 Septembre 1763 Guillaume de Panthou,  Chevalier, Seigneur, Patron d Elcots, Saint Frefnay, &c. ( fils aîné de Gaspard 8c de Françoife de Croifilles) Capitaine au Régiment de Piémont, Infanterie, mort le 29 Août 1768, age de 76 ans, fans postériré d une ancienne Noblefle de Normandie connue des l'an 1070. Elle a épousé, 2, le 5 Octobre 1775  Henri Seymour en Angleterre, de la branche cadette des Ducs de Sommerset  & alliée à la maison de France & d 'Angleterre " 

My very rough translation is that she was born 31 May 1741.
1. Married de Panthou  19th September 1763 (  army man, old noble family) who died 29th August 1768, aged 76.( huge age difference!)
 2.  Married  Henry Seymour 5th October 1775 ( younger branch of the family of the Duke of Somerset?)


Henry Seymour was much easier to find - on Wikipedia!
        

"Henry Seymour (21 October 1729 – 14 April 1807), a British politician.
Seymour was the eldest son of Francis Seymour, of Sherborne, Dorset. He was educated at New College. In January 1746/7, he inherited the estate of East Knoyle from his uncle, William.^[1]
In 1753, Seymour married Lady Caroline Cowper (d. 1773), daughter of William Clavering-Cowper, 2nd Earl Cowper, by whom he had two daughters:

• Caroline Seymour (31 January 1755 – 20 March 1821), married in September 1775 William Danby, of Swinton Park (b. 9 July 1752)
• Georgiana Amelia Seymour (31 Dec 1756 – ?), married on 27 September 1794 Félicité Jean Louis de Durfort, Comte de Deyme (4 March 1752 – 10 Mar 1801)

He inherited an estate at Sherborne, Dorset upon the death of his father in December 1761, and also owned estates at Redland Court, Gloucestershire, and Northbrook, Devonshire. After his father's death, he entered politics,^[1] obtaining the office of Groom of the Bedchamber on 16 February 1763 and being returned as Member of Parliament for Totnes in a by-election that year. On 17 January 1765, he resigned his office as Groom of the Bedchamber.^[2] In 1768, he was returned for Huntingdon. After buying an estate at Norton, Worcestershire, he was returned as a Whig for Evesham in 1774, but did not stand in 1780. He is only known to have addressed the House once, in 1776, supporting Fox's motion to inquire into the mismanagement of the American war.^[1]

On 5 October 1775, after the death of his first wife in 1773, he married the widow Anne Louise Thérèse, Comtesse de Panthou. By this marriage he had one son:

• Henry Seymour (1776–1849)

Seymour and his wife moved to Paris in 1778, and he soon after bought an estate at Prunay. Around 1779 or 1780, Seymour became the lover of Madame du Barry. He separated from his second wife in early 1781.^[1]
The French Revolution led him to flee France in August 1792, and he lost most of his property in that country through confiscation. He spent the rest of his life in retirement at Knoyle.^[1] Seymour is often stated to have died in 1805, but his monument in Exeter Cathedral dates from 1807.^[3] By this time, he had disposed of his estates at Sherborne, Redland, and Norton, leaving Knoyle and Northbrook to his son Henry.^"



 Knoyle - East Knoyle, small village 15 miles from Salisbury, Wiltshire. Better known as the birthplace of Sir Christopher Wren. Also interesting to note, Henry was resident in France while being MP for Evesham.... Seems a rather sketchy career- goes through several estates, (sub leasing Knoyle - bought by son after 1843)- probably most famous as one of Mme du Barry's many lovers (adore the notion of her being banished to a nunnery - so mediaeval!).

Georgian Jacket, caraco, pet en l'air, bodice......

Georgian Jacket - the French Revolution  Dress crossed with the Chocolate Girl.

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)

http://stay-ingalive.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/how-to-do-weird-running-whip-stitch.html

Met Museum and V&A

Completed C18th costume - Gwen does Poldark?

Ta da te da te Dum! (larger fanfare than usual)

Not only are the pet and caraco complete (old news) but I have now made the skirt and a neckerchief to complete the costume. There is no point in making stays – the only way to reduce or alter Gwen's waist is with wood working tools, no point in shoes, etc – there are no legs or feet, and a cap or bonnet looks incomplete without a head to go underneath it.



front showing the inside of the open pet

The skirt is simple, blocks of fabric pleated at the waist, raised slightly in front to compensate for the bum rolls. The hem is taped rather than folded, extra work but a smart, clean finish. The construction is straightforward – the knife pleats face to the back leaving a small flat section at centre front. A length of tape runs along the waist edge, neatening and holding the pleat edges as well as extending to become ties to fasten the skirt. The knife pleats sit really well, opening over the roll and folding shut when not needed.

 This extra layer does not benefit the mission in search of Gwen's corset waist, but with the pet's skirts flaring outward over the hips it is contriving to give an illusion of narrowness ( you have to get the angle just right and squinting might help).

The neckerchief is again very basic. Janet Arnold shows a triangle, Nancy Bradbury, a square to be folded. For this one I used a triangle of muslin – need practice with the flimsy fabrics, though now I never wish to see it again! To finish the edge I turned a hem and then caught across it in the first row of a crocheted edging to keep it secure. The originals seem to have been made in a wide range of sizes, fabric and colours – coarse and dark for workers, finer and more ornate for the ladies, so it seemed quite safe to improvise a little. Having the longest side of the triangle on the cross grain of the fabric did make life a little exciting – the muslin is quite loosely woven so pulled and rolled out of shape. The crochet edging seems to have stabilised this and inspite of the excessive moaning was not difficult nor take long. It is a single crochet into the scarf, chain 4, and repeat every half centimetre. Row 2 is merely single into the chain loop of the row below, chain 5,and repeat. I did try all sorts of designs of various complexity but this gave a neat edge with minimum fuss.

 

Overall - an enjoyable foray into the 18th Century, frustrating, time consuming, deeply annoying. But enjoyable. There are many errors still to address but I would look forward to tackling them rather than sob into my soup and consider emigration. A full sack back gown perhaps?  It will join the growing list Of Things I want To Make... Seeing the ensemble together is strangely satisfying - something to be learnt there I think - but next task......  is already underway.

 

It is experimental, uses builders' grade and a hair drier - at the same time.

 Should have it done for next week's post, if I manage to recapture the scissors by then.

 

Gwen travels back in time -

Considering that I was interested in Regency costume  pet en l'airs and now a caraco are an aberration. These jackets were common wear in the mid 18th century but were sadly outmoded by the turn of the century when the Neo Classical was all the rage.  Mine was based on the example from Snowshill again used by Janet Arnold and Nancy Bradbury. It is not a complicated design = no shaping to the front, the underarm seam is a dart  and the back  panel is cut in 2 with the pleats in the skirt following down from the seams, a gusset giving extra fullness at the base of the underarm dart. The cuffs are lined and winged. Simple! 
I'm sure it should have been but again the pattern had to be Gwenned. I should be good at this by now! I am beginning to believe more firmly in the need for a basic block pattern for each era rather than scaling up from the original each time. Perhaps by next post I will believe strongly enough to have done something about it.

It was good to be doing a tailored back, even though I had to piece the fabric to make the 2 centre back panels. The extra seams are at the waist so do not look out of place. Understanding the fit was a problem. The National Trust photographs the garment as an artefact rather than a piece of clothing  and each of the other extant examples I found seem to be variations on a theme! Some were very much more intricate, shorter, longer, decorated and plain, some, en ferreau, some sack backed and others tailored! I was as faithful to the original as possible but don't think I got the underarm dart right. This became a seam and is too upright  you can see the pull to the bust, it should be angled  forward from the arm hole which would move the gusset  more to the front.


loved the back details and naturally flirty skirt!

 The flare on the skirt has had tantrums, the top and lining fabrics argued, especially at the gusset ( the triangular insert over the hip). A lot worked out when I gave Gwen real hip rolls. The pleats immediately became flirty rather than droopy!  The real pain has been the front neck line, the angle to the shoulder wasn't quite right  and it has a tendency to gape just a little. Neither the lining nor the top did this but together they made trouble. The sleeves were inspired by this poor behaviour - these are fitting no. 4. They are in and sewn and I don't intend there to be no.5.  
I had thought it would be longer from the illustrations in Patterns of Fashion,  but then I wouldn't have been able to fit it on the remnant of fabric at all. The proportions look awkward - I did have to redraw the waist lower by about an inch, so there is more body than skirt compared to the original. ( don't think anyone will know if I don't tell them)The winged cuffs were also a new thing and quite fun to do. It is a lined tube, pleated on the front and then sewn to the sleeve. The cuff is wider than the sleeve which gives the 'wing'.  I had to do the top fabric in 2 parts so they are a little stiffer and more awkward than they should be.

Not entirely happy with this. I am expecting more now, very little margin of error allowed. The flat lined garments look much smoother at the seams and the fitting is easier. This was started as 2 garments and then joined at the front and neck and then the side dart put in holding the two together.



Snowshill caraco,  National Trust

The 2 extant garments provided the shapes and form I was aiming for. The Snowshill one was the inspiration right from the word go but the Met museum one showed a similar robe in the round. The neckline is scandalous, obviously (hopefully)  there was an undergarment or a well pinned kerchief to preserve some modestly (and prevent chest colds). The sleeves are a little longer, without cuffs, but  I tried to get them to hang in the same way.  It does have the gusset, similar problems under the arm. The skirt is longer and more shaped, the pleats give the back a bit of a kick but not to same degree as mine. Perhaps I should have pressed the pleats in more aggressively.


Distractions - Gwen2  the clone- resurfacing and tidying, Christmas decorations, drawing and painting. Now reading about the Fairfax family of York. Have also put my drawings and paintings of these costumes onto a page - tab is at the top -

18th Century jacket - pet en l'air.

And this week's challenge – a pet en l'air (pet en l'eir?). I think the direct translation is somewhat rude but to me it is a sack back jacket from the 1700s, a kind of short version of an open robe, or robe a la Francaise.  Think Watteau, think Thos. Gainsborough. This was an informal garment, worn at home, so when finding portraits I've looked for full gowns showing the volume of fabric at the back and the fitting at the front.

Watteau studies - just how much fabric! Shall we play guess the weight?

Gainsborough - Viscountess Tracey



Gainsborough, Miss Theodosia Magill

 The one I am making is based on one from the Snowshill Manor collection dated 1745-55,  described and drawn by both Janet Arnold and Nancy Bradbury. It is made in silk with a linen lining and probably worn with a kerchief to fill in the neckline.


Drawing from Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion. The painting above is the one cited by Bradbury - Upton House NT.

  Again it is made to fit Gwendoline, the little model, so every inch on the pattern becomes a centimetre- there will have to be other tweaks and adjustments but the Arnold diagrams will provide the basic shapes.

 I am using a printed cotton - quite fine in texture, too much of a coward for silk or satin at this stage of the learning curve.

 There are several extant examples documented and similar jackets seem to have many different names - on some the front closes, others the stomacher is pinned in as a temporary closure, the back pleats can be sewn in or sewn in part rather than hanging from the neck line. This caraco is from the Met. and although the detail may be different it does give an idea of the garment and the size of padding needed to get Gwen up to speed! I do get everso confused by all these names - I think I understand what a caraco is, a casaquin, a pierrot , and then..... Never mind - the embroidery is exquisite and that row of buttons!

 

– Even with 2 sources to glean information from I had no idea how this garment worked. Unpicking happened often. And again Gwen's shape has caused some major headaches- she has a wide flat torso, little hips and a long smooth waist, nothing like the kind of corseted shape shown in the contemporary paintings. I have tried to be as faithful as I can to the original – give and take a bit (quite a big bit in places).  The pattern had to be extended  to fit around

her and the upper front elongated.  The fabric is in two halves – joined at the centre back , with a major amount of pleating on the hip and back and the front bodice extends over the shoulder to meet the back.. What did become obvious as I tried to put this together is the importance of the lining in creating the base for the top fabric to hang from. There is a lot of fabric there - Gwen is 16cm across the shoulders - one half of the top fabric is over 50cm.  Janet Arnold described the parts being made up as one as far as the centre back, so that is what I did, but the lining back has to fit snugly to give shape to the bodice front and shoulder as well as to support the pleats. So undo the flat lining and fit the back bodice together – re-attach top fabric so there was something to hang the pleats onto. Working without a centre front was also difficult - trying the garment on Gwen seemed to give a different fit each time, and with the top and lining together of course they behaved differently again. To stabilise it the false front was made up and fitted as shown. Chickened out of doing the tab fronts from the original jacket and treated it as a solid piece with hooks and eyes to fasten at centre front just to make fitting easier. Considering how the parts were made and all that had to be done was to sew it together neatly the length of time taken seems huge- 2 hours! The side seams were extended an inch to fit Gwen more snugly but then there should be hoops or at least a large bum pad to hold the skirts out from the body which will alter the shape completely - can't win!

Next steps – sleeves, ruffles, hem, decoration.

The arm holes seem to have migrated backward  but I left a lot of spare fabric when cutting out so should not be too difficult to re- establish. I am looking forward to the sleeve - it is such a different shape. The pleats at the head should give a little leeway but....

A the real reason for putting myself through this torture ? Want to make the ruffles, I want to flounce. Already thinking through and planning...... are they lined - self or linen? or hemmed ? Do-able at this scale? Hours of fun to moan about next post.

 

 I've put in some of the useful sources/blogs etc. To be honest there is a lot of very good stuff out there- these are only a tiny tip of the proverbial iceberg.

 http://brocadegoddess.wordpress.com/pet-en-lair/   does a much better job of making than I have!

 http://www.marquise.de/en/index.html
http://americanduchess.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/costume-analytics-1770-80-chintz-caraco.html

and of course - Janet Arnold -Patterns of Fashion 1 p28-30, Nancy Bradbury - Costume in Detail p19 National Trust - Snowshill collection.
BBC paintings, Met Museum, and Museum of London.