This dress was originally meant to be an Crinoline dress inspired by the series “North and South”, but ended up in my wardrobe for several years, because I did not like the idea to wear a huge skirt “like a princess”. It had two bodices – one for day wear and one with a low neckline for balls and formal occasions. Finally, I made another bodice for evening wear, which can be seen on the second article about this bustle, and added a flounce to the ballgown.
But this did not solve the problem, so I started to cut the skirt into pieces and made a bustle skirt. It was not easy to place all the pattern pieces on three widths of fabric. Actually, I had to make two skirts – one tablier (the small skirt you can see on these two photos) and a long skirt, both with flounces round the hem. In addition, I could find some leftover fabric from the Riding Habit. Due to the fact that the day I took the photos was a bit rainy, I did not want to wear the white skirt. As a result, I tried the one already suiting the decoration. Further, I had to lift up the skirt in the back, because the skirt was still longer than the bustle. I wear it over a chemise, the named bustle, an underskirt with flounces and a corset.
