Spencers, pelisses, cloaks

[Val]

I ran across this article in my Jane Austen newsletter on the above. tinyurl.com/2mbvre
I've been trying to find more info on the "robes" that were hooked under the bustline. I think this was more 1795/Empire but they were used in S&S and I love them. Hey, it's like the young girls nowadays are copying the 1970s outfits I wore in high school. So what's the difference?
I'm hoping to make one for the Ball at Costume College. I have the fabric for the robe, just can't find the right color for the gown under it. It needs kind of a muddy greyish plum. The robe is a muddy greyish plum and a greyish mauvey stripe. Wonderful color, but a PITA to match.

[dawnluckham]

Val, there is a pattern for the open robe (like the one Marianne wears in Sense and Sensibility) in Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion 1 (p. 44). The original garment is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. It’s cream silk with tan looped cord trim. It’s a beautiful garment, with fit achieved with pleating in the side and back pieces. I’d love to get to this one myself someday. It’s on my ever-growing “wish list”. ;D

[Val]

Unfortunately at this point, I don't know how to scale up patterns. But I do have an alternate one I can use, Butterick 4890. I think I can adapt it to my use.

[aylwen]

There is a open robe pattern from Mantua Maker that has the same back as the one in Janet Arnold.
Aylwen