This outfit is inspired by a dress shown in „Fitting and Proper“, that is believed to be a Quaker Wedding Dress. It is Model Nr. 2 in the book and dated to 1760-80.
In contrast to the silk used for the original dress, I decided to use blue linen. It took about 4 yards. According to the book, Quaker dresses are not always fashionable, so I changed the cuffs into frills to use it for the 1770s. The bodice part and the sleeves are lined with white linen. A nice detail can be seen when looking at the back of the dress, which is cut „en Fourreau“ and has small pleats sewn down.
Since the basic dress looks very simple, I use a lot of accessoires to complete the look: a white linen apron, fichu, a small embroidered bonnet and a bergere made of straw, that originally goes with my Anglaise. Underneath I wear my shift, stays and a petticoat. I did all of them by hand with linen thread, except for the hat and the stays.
This dress is a Round Gown, which means it has neither stomacher nor an open skirt. In fact, the skirt front and back are sewn together. Before closing the bodice, I close the skirt front by tying it like an apron. Since they do not know the way it was closed originally, this is a kind of interpretation, but works well. By the way, I have to sew myself into the dress, because this is the only sign of fasting the bodice. In order to prevent wrinkles, I did sew some boning into the centre front, which means one cable tie on each side.
