A Reproduction of an 1860s Black Silk Dress

If a lady can have but one silk dress in a series of years, she will find a black silk will be of more use to her than any other color. Black is becoming to every complexion, and a black silk may be worn at a wedding, a party, a funeral, or to church. It is nowhere out of taste except in the kitchen. It may be made gay with bright trimmings, or severe with those of the same color. It can be worn with hat and wrappings of every hue and is never out of fashion.If the silk is figured, let the figure be small, the same on both sides, with no up or down to it; so that when worn at the bottom it can be turned upside-down, and when soiled outside, it can be turned inside out. Be careful, too, that the figure is well woven in, and no long threads left on the surface. These will catch in everything, and be soon worn off or frayed out so that no care or skill can restore a new appearance to the dress. If the silk be plain, let it be of excellent quality, not stiff and inflexible, but soft and pliable,  and, when pulled in bias folds, easily returned to its former shape.

The Philosophy of Housekeeping, Joseph Bardwell Lyman, 1859

The Response, ca. 1860 by Auguste Toulmouche Ville de Nantes

If you remember a few weeks ago when we took an in depth look at my new original bodice, you'll know I was planning on making a reproduction of the dress.  Well, it's done!  On Youtube, I posted the skirt and bodice separately but I'm going to include both in this post.

I have been going through some mid-century paintings just for fun.  It's cool to see all the little trinkets and house furnishings!  Since I had black silk dresses on my mind, I started to notice how many paintings featured black dresses.  It seems like the Victorian women of the mid-19th century took the above advice to heart if all you look at is paintings!  It's amazing how many group paintings had at least one subject in what looks like a black silk dress.  Here are just a few of my favorite black dresses in paintings.

Mary Isabella Grant Knitting a Shawl, 1855 by Francis Grant.

Jeune Femme en Noir, bef. 1860 by Alfred de Dreux.

Portrait of Karoline Stiffel-Ecalard, n.d. by Friedrich von Amerling.

(Unknown title), ca. 1860 by Gustave Leonard de Jonghe.

Now that I have that out of my system, let's talk making up the reproduction.

The skirt was interesting to make up because I did not have the original skirt to go by.  I didn't know if it had trim or not, pockets, was pleated or gauged, lined, etc.  So I got to play a bit-within period parameters, of course.

I used 4 widths of black silk taffeta and faced it with 10" of polished cotton.  I used 2 rows of 1.5" velvet ribbon for the trim.  I knew I wanted to trim the skirt but was unsure of how many rows to do.  Two seemed a bit odd, but I did find period examples of skirt trim in twos.

Photo by Travis Triplett.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Manchester Art Gallery

Unknown collection

Given the upper puff had two rows of velvet and the lower coat sleeve had two rows of velvet, I felt that it would make sense for two rows on the skirt.  While certainly not common enough to be a 'rule', you do see numbers of trim mimicked on the sleeves and skirt.

Whitaker Auction

Extant Gowns

Time Traveler's Antiques

I pleated most of the waist but gauged the very back as in this original:

Metropolitan Museum of Art

This skirt treatment is my favorite as it isn't as time consuming as gauging the whole skirt but you don't have to worry about getting the pleating math just perfect.  I also added two pockets as usual-a watch pocket and a skirt pocket.

The bodice is my typical 1860s bodice pattern with two darts on either side.  Both darts are boned.  The lining is brown cotton sateen, darker than the original as that is what I could find.  The coat sleeves have a little puff at the top of them that has an 1/4" velvet ribbon and a 1/2" velvet ribbon for trim.  The coat sleeves have 1" velvet trim near the cuff.  The armscyes, neck, and waist are all piped, just like the original.

Waist to bust has six sets of hooks and eyes for extra security.  The buttonholes are hand done, of course, and took the better part of a whole day.  The buttons are silk covered wood, then embroidered over in a dorset pattern with black silk thread.

For the cuffs, I pleated some cotton lace like the original had.  I'm not sure if this is original or if it would have had separate undersleeves, but I went with what I could see.  I used some point d'Espirit edged with the same lace for the collar.  Some pretty handkerchief linen with the same lace completed a matching handkerchief for the set.

Enjoy!