Angela's Collection:
Historical Clothing & Accessories

Regency Era
Back in the beginning of my regency dressmaking I used Jennie Chancey's Regency Dress pattern.  I still occasionally use the pattern but enjoy the freedom that draping now gives me.  I use lots of books and photos of originals when draping.  I also find myself using period movies a lot, too. :)

               
The pink dress on the far left was made using Mrs. Chancey's pattern.  The blue dress I'm wearing in the same photo was made using Past Pattern's Front Closing Gown (circa 1796-1806) pattern.  I made the yellow apron without a pattern, basing it on Eleanor's apron in the 1990s version of Sense & Sensibility.  In the photo on the right, my dress was draped based on one of Marianne's also from Sense & Sensibility.  The parasol I'm holding I also made.  It's not Regency era and you'll see it with some of my other dresses; until I have time to make different parasols for different eras this one will do.



 I made this bonnet based on one Eleanor wears in Sense & Sensibility.  I was unable to find an unfinished hat of that shape to cover, so I made my own.  It took quite a while to sew the straw and shape it; the slightly quicker and much easier part was shaping the buckram for the cloth section of the hat.
     

          
Gowns fit for dancing!  These are fairly recent additions to our Regency clothing collections (December 2006).  When I made my dress the only thing I knew for sure before I did any designing was that it would have tassels on it!  I love the tassels on the sleeves of a gown worn in the 1995 Pride & Prejudice.  Looking through drawings from the period I also came across a dress with tassels hanging down from the high waist.  They looked really pretty when standing still, but my poor dancing partners!
 

Romantic Era

                                       
My yellow dress is mid 1820s, the grey-blue is around 1837.  These are two of my absolute favorite dresses.  If I had any occasion to wear clothing from these years I would have a much larger collection of reproductions!  Both of these dresses were made from drafted and or draped patterns.  The yellow 20s dress is also based on several worn by "Molly" in Wives & Daughters.