An 1870s walking suit from three different green homespun checks, using the Truly Victorian Basque Bodice and their trained bustle skirt for the underskirt, with an overskirt of uncertain origin (it's a copy of a borrowed pattern). The buttons are all antique crocheted ones, and the trimming is yards and yards of ruffles and bias strips as well as dark green bullion fringe.
One of my favorite outfits, a natural-form suit made from Truly Victorian's natural form jacket bodice, underskirt, and Hermoine overskirt. It's in a crisp lavender and yellow checked cotton (another Wal-Mart score). There are yards and yards of antique laces trimming all the angles and circling the hem, and about two dozen antique buttons on the front, the trims, the cuffs, and across the back. The fit and the style all seem just right to me.
This was my first vintage reproduction. It's a bustled ball gown, repeatedly altered and retrimmed over the course of about ten years, on and off. The first two photos are the original design; the second, after adding quite a bit of trimming. It's from the Old World Enterprises 1880 ball gown pattern. The pattern is a horror to work with (spare pieces, parts that don't match up, random darts, et cetera) and the finished gown isn't sufficiently elegant to justify the agony. Other seamstresses have shared these opinions with me as well. I'll eventually be making a whole new bodice with the evening variation of the Truly Victorian cuirass bodice pattern pictured inb many, many other places on this site, as it fits much better and looks more authentic.
Surprisingly, I came across this replica dress from the Artefact (sic) Collection belonging to the East Dunbartonshire (UK) Council's education system. This strongly resembles my dress, particularly before I started making it over!
Truly Victorian's 1870s walking skirt and 1880s cuirass bodice (TV208 and TV460), over their ready-made bustle petticoat (highly recommended!) combined to make a summery 1880s walking suit. My inspiration was the blue seersucker dress, below, sold on eBay (alas, not to me.) This inexpensive teal and white seersucker served as the muslin for a version to be made in winter-weight fabrics. The pattern made up reasonably easily, but fitting was <i>much</i> harder than it needed to be, and in fact, the final size chosen doesn't really correspond to my measurements. Also, the construction techniques they recommend are modern, not historic. I borrowed a lot of ideas, dart measurements, and construction directions from the pink Day Dress, above. Most importantly, I flat-lined the entire bodice, as would have been done historically. After all that, though, I'm pretty happy with this outfit! (I've since shortened the upper bodice somewhat and removed the incorrect-style back bones, which makes it fit rather better.)
My seaside dress for the 2008 Newport Vintage Dance Week excursion, using a fan-printed cotton (I'd been holding on to it for years, since I got all of it from a Rag Shop sale bin), antique cotton lace, and striped cotton. It's based on this wonderful original (cream with red). All these are Truly Victorian patterns -- four in all. It's based on this wonderful museum piece:
