I am very excited to share that I am finally done sewing the trim on my 1822 Walking Dress and 1824 Ball Gown. I actually finished sewing the trim on both garments about two months ago. Yay me, for being ready for a ball a full month ahead of time!
The walking dress has a previous post from when I completed sewing the trim. The ball gown has previous posts about being worn partially trimmed last year and about sewing on the hem appliques. Here is the link to the category that shows all the posts related to this ensemble.
I wore both garments this year at Fezziwig’s Ball, hosted by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers, just as I did last year. Last year, however, I didn’t have enough time to trim them like I wanted to and I didn’t really have time to look into proper hair styles either. So this year, in addition to adding trim, I also decided to try out a different hair style that would be much more early 1820s.
I looked at lots of fashion plates and noted what elements made the styles look 1820s. This is the look, from 1823 (also pictured a little farther down). The style required a new hair wreath, so that was the only last minute sewing for this year’s event. I did the same style as the fashion plated: crossed braids on top of my head and little curls around my hair line. When you have long hair and no bangs like me it’s quite a challenge to get curls around the hair line. I managed to make the little curls happen, but I still want to improve my methods. The hair wreath was essential for hiding my long hair and only showing the curly ends. It is made of wired millinery flowers sewn to a length of millinery wire. The front bits are small flower sprays and the back is velvet leaves.
I was amused throughout the night that people kept commenting on how much they liked the sleeve appliques on my green dress. I didn’t realize they were so exciting, but I do think they balance out the skirt nicely. By the end of the night my curls were looking a bit crazed… but it was fun, and I do enjoy wearing these garments and the style of the 1820s, in general. Oh, and I was able to wear my refreshing apron, too, though we were too busy refilling refreshments to take pictures. So yay for completion! It’s nice to get these things off the sewing list to make room for other fancily trimmed things!
The Quintessential Clothes Pen 
I love your walking dress! The trim on the bottom is just great, as is the trim on the bodice and sleeves, but for some reason the skirt trim I love extra:) Your ball gown trim is pretty awesome too. I’m finally starting to trim some things too, so I love to see other peoples trimmed up projects!
Thank you! While trim is time consuming to sew on, I love the finished effect of a trimmed garment. 🙂 Thanks for reading and commenting!
You look great! The outfit is so wonderfully detailed. And your hair looks great. I too have been wondering how to turn my long hair into a style with curls in front. Good idea on how to.
Happy new year!
I LOVE this dress! It’s always a delight to the eye when you’re wearing it. It breathes the 1820s so well! The hem and especially the sleeves look truly stunning now…we definately need to see more close up’s!!!
So very well done 🙂
Wishing you a fantastic New Year 2014 with lots of amazing sewing projects!
You’ll need to do a long hair/short curls tutorial someday 🙂
Oh how beautiful your dress and coate are! I truly love the colors of both of these lovely pieces! You do such fantastic work on everything your make! What a great inspiration!
Blessings!
Gina
I need to know where I can get some of these ball gowns for a future Fezziwig Ball here in Old New Castle, DE in December, 2015. Thank you.
Many of the people I know who are involved in historical events make their own clothes. Some people use patterns from small historical pattern companies and some people make their own custom patterns. You can also sometimes find slightly used dresses on Etsy.