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COSTUME PAGE ~ part 1 (I'll put part 2 up in a month or so)
Here are some photos I took at Berrington Hall, in Herefordshire, where regency historical author Joanna Maitland had arranged a private regency-era costume showing by wonderful costume curator, Althea. Thank you both for your generosity. It's a fabulous collection, but it's not on display to the public, so I felt very privileged. You'll notice some photos are a little dark — that's because the fabric and embroidery are 200 years old, and delicate and light will damage them. All photos were taken without a flash and in the natural light of just one small window. Any errors in description are wholly my own fault. Althea explained it all, but my notes were mental -- I was too busy taking photos and trying not to drool over the costumes.


I became fascinated by the way bodices were constructed. They were not nearly as secure as I'd imagined!		The back detail of the dresses was beautiful, I suppose, because hair was worn off the neck, and they wanted to frame the nape.
Two folds of material were pulled across the breasts and held together with pins — ordinary, straight pins. You can see the folds above. The part Althea is holding is a third piece of fabric that comes up over the breasts, presenting a smooth facade to the world. Again, it's fastened with plain straight pins.		You can see how fine this muslin is. This is the front flap -- the bit everyone saw as the bodice of the dress.
This shows some detail of the back of the same fine muslin dress.		Fine muslins were often embroidered with tiny hailspots, French knots or other small motifs, repeated all over the dress. The neckline, sleeves, cuffs and hems were usually decorated. This cuff has an inset of fine hand-made lace.
Here is another dress showing the front fastening system. This is with all the front flaps folded open, so you can see the inside back of the dress. This one is fastened with tapes as well as pins		Now the front is fastened shut but it's plain and shows seams and darts , which you don't want for the front. You can just see Althea's fingers touching the front bit, which will come up and be fastened over the rest, a bit like a bib.
Below you can see the bib lying, not yet lifted up and fastened. Fascinating, isn't it?		This shows the fastening of a gorgeous green pelisse (see below) with metal hooks and eyes.
		Above is the back view of the pelisse. On the left is the whole thing, lying in tissue paper in its box. Stunning, isn't it? I wonder if this is the color Georgette Heyer called "pomona green" - The Grand Sophy's favorite color.
		The dress on the left is of fine muslin, exquisitely embroidered around the very minimal bodice and much larger hem (below) and and finished with gold fringing. When you think that this dress was worn by a young woman 200 years ago, it's a miracle it's survived in such beautiful order.
This lovely blue gown has silver embroidered braidwork around the neck and intricate detail on the capped sleeves.		All of this embroidered braid and detailed work is hand done, of course. I loved these dramatic little sleeves.
I wasn't so taken with the color combination or style of this dress (below) but believe me it was very fashionable then. It's a good reminder of how tastes in colors change. Many of the bright clear, lovely colors we take for granted were simply not available then.		The bright pink-edged loops were a feature of the bodice and hem, and the sleeves were large and puffed and fastened separately over the sleeve edge -- you can see the rough finishing (left sleeve) and the separate puffed sleeve (right sleeve) clearly in the picture on the left. More about puffed sleeves on the next page (to come)

		This pink and pale green dress was some young woman's favorite party dress I'm sure. I loved it because it reminded me of my favorite party dress when I was about 7. I called it "my bows" and it had big pink satin bows around the skirt, just like this one. The photo on the left shows the lovely detailing of the back with rows of satin-covered buttons. These are just some of the photos I took at Berrington Hall. I have enough for another page, at least, and I'll put them up in a month or so.