Under and Over: 1860s Half Mourning Cotton Dress and Cage Crinoline

Last weekend I once more had my 1860s mourning display set up at a local Civil War reenactment. About a week before the event, I decided it would be crazy totally reasonable to finish the half mourning printed cotton dress that I started two years ago. I'm glad I pushed through and finished it because I'm quite pleased with the dress even though it's cotton (what can I say, I love silk and wool!).

To make a cotton dress more interesting, I did a yoked bodice with pleats and piping and played a tiny bit with the directions of the stripes. The bishop sleeve, while not really flattering, is useful if I ever want to roll up the sleeves in a working environment like cooking or doing laundry. The bodice is only partially lined in the yoke and in a strip under each arm, as seen in a few originals like this yoked dress.

    

I also thought it was about time to photograph my Needle and Thread 116" cage crinoline and petticoat that were made last year. This kit is so incredible... If you're serious about 1860s clothing, it's completely worth the investment as every single piece is perfectly reproduced from originals. I got the 110" kit and squeezed it out to 116". Looking back, I should have called up Needle and Thread and asked for a few extra yards of hooping because they have excellent customer service and I could have made the cage 120" like I originally wanted. 116" is fine, though, and looks very nice under my black and white checked silk dress (I'm not wearing it in the pictures above because the skirt for the cotton dress was cut to fit over my old 108" hoop). Because of the considerable back thrust of the crinoline, I need to make a little bum pad to support the back of the crinoline and keep it from tipping forward. But I'm trying not to feel too badly about it because this original is doing the same thing! ;-)

     

The petticoat was inspired by this original at the Met, and others like it.