So after finishing the pink silk dress, I decided to go ahead and make the belt that we see in the original paining that served as inspiration for the day dress.
From the painting, we can clearly see this is a pointed belt. But I don't think it's a diamond shaped one-the top point (the only one visible to us) is off to the side of her center front. Assuming her belt isn't lopsided, that leads me to believe that the top of the belt is double pointed. Often these double pointed belts come with a single point at the bottom of the belt. That led me to the design I eventually chose. But first, let's look at some original pointed belts (and some corselettes/Swiss waists).
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| Peterson's Magazine, 1860 |
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| Der Bazar, 1861 |
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| Image from Ebay |
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| Image from Ebay |
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| Fenimore Art Museum |
The design I eventually chose was a double pointed top and single pointed bottom front, with a double pointed bottom back. It closes up the left side.
The belt is stiffened with buckram and boned in all five points. The belt was then lined with brown polished cotton which was whipped onto the edge of the buckram. All that was left was to attach the black velvet (really, 100% cotton velveteen, which is more similar to original velvet in my experience) to the front and stitch it all together. And add hooks and eyes, of course.
Enjoy!
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