White Bustle
What’s the simplest way to make an 1870s bustle dress?
I need an 1870s bustle dress in british fashion very soon.
I need to know the simplest way to make this kind of dress.
I really need to cheat and make this because I really can’t sew that well.
I just need it to last me four days and look as best and be as cheap as possible.
Thanks you!
examples:
http://www3.fitnyc.edu/museum/gothic/images/mourning.jpg
http://www.interlakenhistory.org/karen%201880.JPG
http://joechip.net/liana/uploads/lauras-blue-and-white-1870s-day-dress-from-j-sheridan-le-fanus-carmilla-tabbed.png
These aren’t easy to make. A true bustle skirt is an advanced level project that I wouldn’t attempt. However if you don’t want it 100% authentic, you can make a costume version of a simple draped bustle skirt. The top link can be replicated quickly, but it won’t be authentic. In a pinch you can use large lengths of fabric that are floor length in width and add an elastic waist casing. Use several yards of fabric, these skirts are very full. Push most of the gathering to the back and pin a pillow under the rear of the skirt. This will make the backside stick out similar to a real bustle. Then take another length of fabric and drape the center of the fabric across the front and allow the hemmed ends to cascade over the back Add some fancy trim or lace to the edges of the drapery, you can also add some to the length of the fabric in the middle. Be sure the underskirt has some trim or lace sewn on, too. These skirts were simple shapes but they were elaborately trimmed with lace, braids, and what was called “passementarie” a word used to describe the elaborate frosting on wedding and fancy cakes. Use pins or a few hand stitches to hold the drapery in place, in old skirts drapery was often adjusted and altered to suit the wearer. Much of this is simple straight line sewing. The shape comes from all the gathering and draping.
A real bustle skirt has a spring steel or heavy boned cage under the skirt at the butt. These were very heavy and tied onto the body like large awkward aprons. They slipped and slid and made sitting and walking difficult. You can get a similar look using a large pillow, it will be awkward, but there’s no way to do a bustle that isn’t awkward.
Hope that helped a bit.
How to bustle a gown
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