Francaise Dinner 2015

For the 2015 Francaise Dinner I wore my lavender robe a la francaise with a brand new stomacher and wig.

The stomacher was made gathered self fabric trim with fringed edges, on top of which I sewed a small chain of silk organza puffs covered in sequins.

The gathered self fabric trim and the beginnings of my organza chain.

Lavender Robe a la Francaise- The Making Of

My original inspiration came from the following three renderings for robes de cour (court gowns) by Charles-Germian de Saint-Aubin from 1785.

Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris Tous droits réservés

Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris Tous droits réservés

Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris Tous droits réservés

I then proceeded to drape the robe.

Draping the back pleats.

Draping the skirt.

Lavender Robe a la Francaise

I made this lavender robe a la francaise in early 2014 to be worn to the Third Annual Francaise Dinner put on by my unofficial costuming group, The Fabulosity Club. I was also hoping to wear it at the masquerade ball at the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies conference, but sadly was unable to attend. BUT I had the most wonderful time at the Francaise dinner and am very happy with my new robe a la francaise. There are still a couple of things I want to fix and futz with, but overall it's one of my favorite costumes to date. I also wore it with my brand new wig, which sported blue ocean waves (made of feathers) and a model ship, the HMS Surprise. It was my first time styling a hairpiece of any kind (I have enough hair to do most styles just on its own!) and now that I'm more familiar with the process I'm going for an even bigger ship the next time around.