Dickens Ponderings - Continued....with pics*

Met: Gown 1840-45

Out of all the gowns, this one most closely resembles a dress I already have.  What can I say?  I love the checks, and gathers at the waist, and the nice, boufty, comfy sleeves!  Nice and simple, not too stuffy!  I might have some appropriate fabric in my stash, but would certainly need to check and make sure!  The good thing is, that if I decide nothing in the stash would work, it shouldn't take too much out of the budget to procure suitable fabric.

Met: Gown 1840

Oh. My. Goodness.  I L-O-V-E this dress.  Everything about it.  The jewel-tone color!  The sheen of the satin!  The cross front!  The sleeves!  The only satin I have in my stash is cream-colored, and I would certainly want to do this dress out of a nice, heavy satin.  No other fabric would do it justice, right??  (That right there may strike it from the list of possibilities!

Met: Gown 1841-45

A simple fan-front may fit the bill - although I'd certainly need to jazz it up with accessories.  I have some fabric that I could probably use from the stash for a similar gown.  (I think I've seen fan fronts in a plaid/stripe before too....that honestly would be my first choice, I think!)

Met: Gown 1841-43

This one is also kind of fan-front-ish, but mostly put it on the list because I adore the lace collar, and the muted plaid!

Met: Gown 1850

And last, but certainly not least, a dress from further out of period than I probably ought to do, but, oh how I do want pagoda sleeves!  Delicious, swoopy, awesome pagoda sleeves......nom!

*Clicking on the caption will redirect you to the source image on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website