Because Every Woman Needs a Red Dress…

Ellen Olenska's Red Dress from Age of Innocence
Ellen Olenska’s Red Dress from Age of Innocence

Do you like red? Have you made any costumes in red? Great! If you have, you have inspired me to take on my own red costume project.

I don’t naturally gravitate towards reds. Blues, purples and pinks float my boat. So I’m taking the challenge to put some sort of red costume into my historical wardrobe.

Onegin - Red dress costume for Liv Tyler
Onegin – Red dress costume for Liv Tyler

Many of you on Facebook gave me the suggestion of the red dress Tatyana wears in Onegin. It is a beautiful gown but my budget right now can’t quite fit the silk taffeta I’d want for that design. This will go on the project list….

Others of you mentioned a bustle gown. I LOVE bustles. Especially 1870s. But one friend asked what I have the least of in my closet and I said “1880s” so she suggested I go with that. Great!

(You can see here the process that occurs sometimes on deciding what costume to make next.)

Then came the fabric search. I want this project to be “quick.” Or at least I told myself that…

Easy costume: basic underskirt and apron overskirt both using Truly Victorian patterns I’ve made before. And a bodice – cut from the fitted one I made last May as the Bubble Gum Dress.

Pink Bustle Dresses
Pink Bustle Dresses

So now I needed a cotton, perhaps a solid red then one with a red print. (Do you know how HARD it is to force yourself to pick a fabric color that you don’t naturally like?)

After a few trips to various stores, I found a red floral that I actually really like. Isn’t it lovely?

1884 Cotton Fabrics
1884 Cotton Fabrics

Humm… what to do with it now? There were only 4 yards of the solid red so that’s enough for the foundation skirt. The floral could be the bodice and apron overskirt or even a polonaise. (Wouldn’t that be cute!)

But alas… I want this to be something that doesn’t take too much time (which a polonaise with no waist seam would be).  Yeah, right. Like I could stick with this quick-to-finish idea.

No, I cannot just choose “easy.” There has to be some sort of challenge in the project. Something that I haven’t done before.  Are you the same way when starting a new costume?

So off I go, exploring my Harper’s Bazar Dover book, Kyoto Fashion tome, and the Metropolitan Fashions of the 1880s for ideas. I narrowed down my search filters to looking for day dresses that sport a floral print fabric. And they showed themselves to me. Lots of them. As I don’t do a lot of 1880s, I forget that prints were so fashionable at the time.

So page after page, I flipped. Post-it notes surrounded the book edges with signs that said “nice one,” “great overskirt,” or “pick me.” Well, not really but that’s what they should have said so I could narrow them all down to something exciting to tackle.

That’s when I took a closer look at this page.

See that one? …The one on the left? Yeah. That’s it.

The solid red will be the skirt ruffle and half apron mounted onto a cream twill skirt base. The floral will be for the bodice and weird draped asymmetrical overskirt. The red will also be made into flat piping for the cuff accents and collar edge as well as finishing the bottom of the bodice. I’ll cover buttons in the solid red as well.

Perfect! I love it!

Although, now I’m back to that: “Ok, it’s not THAT easy with that draped overskirt.” (What is up with that smooth top pouf surrounding her hips??) …It’s definitely the overskirt design that will challenge me a bit.

Plus, I get to work with cotton. 🙂 I’m a happy girl.

Now only for a name….

11 thoughts on “Because Every Woman Needs a Red Dress…

  1. Demarie Jones says:

    My favorite red dress was from the movie Dracula. The one that Mina wears, for me that dress is the epitome of the Red Dress. One day I would love to have the ability to make it.

  2. Megan says:

    Dorothy Parker wrote several poems about dresses and fashion; most notably “The Red Dress” and “The Satin Dress” and “The Little Old Lady in Lavender Silk. There was a woman who understood the importance of style, both in fashion and in titles.
    “Where’s the man could ease a heart like a satin gown?”- is quite possibly the most apt quote to sum up any woman whose passion is sewing.
    The Victorians loved their reds- from silk wallpaper to British uniforms and the exotic Zouave uniforms of the French and American armies. This had to do a great deal with the symbolism of color in the 19th century. Red was the color of passion, of love; and conversely the color of blood and sacrifice. Not for nothing was Stephen Crane’s masterpiece called The Red Badge of Courage, or so many national flags adopted in the 19th century use the color.
    Charles Garnier, in building the Paris Opera; instructed the upholstery of the seats and hangings of the boxes to be a specific shade of red which would flatter the skintones of the fashionable ladies of Paris(Until then, most theatres and opera houses were upholstered in various shades of blue). The great Worth himself created several gorgeous (some still extant) gowns in red. One of my favorites is an 1880’s evening gown in a red and gold brocade.

    • Jennifer Rosbrugh says:

      What a great comment Megan! Never thought about just how much red the Victorians used in their lives. Thanks.

  3. Mona Obie Ross says:

    What wonderful tips for a novice costumer. Have been sewing for a long time but nothing so challenging Am looking forward to MORE help as I go along..Thanks all!

  4. melody says:

    what pattern did you use for the bodice for the “bubble gum” outfit? Are your aprons and bustle usually seperate pieces? Are they sewed to waistbands?
    I’m trying to figure out huw to not have a gaint was at the waistband by having a waistband for the skirt, another for the apron and another for the bustle.
    thanks

    • Jennifer Rosbrugh says:

      My 1886 Bubble Gum Diamonds dress was made from a mash-up of my own fitted bodice pattern overlayed on the Truly Victorian French Vest pattern. The pink silk overskirt is a separate piece (own waistband) made from the TV Asymmetrical Overskirt pattern and the underskirt is the TV 1880s Late Bustle basic skirt pattern, also on it’s own waistband. I made them separate so I could interchange them with other skirts later on. You can combine over and underskirts onto one waistband, but not with this particular asymmetrical overskirt.

      And your questions made me realize I never did a proper write up on this costume. Will be doing that soon.

  5. Sophia says:

    This is lovely! You could have looked at the ball gown from “The King and I” it was red/pink and fantastic! You inspire me to sew and I have never done it before…with much luck!

  6. Lynn says:

    You have inspired me to make a red dress – I to grativate to blues, pinks and some browns, and red is definitely outside my comfort zone, but I love that red ball gown – I think that could be my next dress! And I have red fabric to make it!! Please share the source for this dress! Thank you!

  7. Victoria says:

    I love this. I have been thinking on making a red riding habit with white fur trim. You have inspired me to get moving on it. 🙂

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