Blue robe à la francaise

I finished my first robe à la Francaise yesterday! Hooray!

*Throws confetti*


I've worked on it on and off for months and months and originally it was supposed to be ready for the Bal Masque in the end of April but that didn't happen. There'll be other events to wear it, though. I decided that I would rather take time to finish it properly than hurry to get it ready in time and do sloppy work.

The vital statistics of this robe are:

The style/pattern: I wanted a later model of the francaise, with a front closing bodice, not a stomacher and the fiddly "pin these pieces on your stays" business. I suppose my robe would be somewhere in the 1770s; I was inspired by this, this, this and this extant example. I used my anglaise bodice as guidelines and consulted the Janet Arnold book for the back pleats and the front hems. Also, a thanks to Sanna of Rococo Atelier, who gave me advice on the width and depth of the back pleats.

The fabric: some kind of viscose (?) blend, with a woven stripe. The fabric was originally silver gray, but I dyed it and it became sort of forget-me-not/periwinkle/pennywort blue. It's very hard to photograph but just take my word, it's a beautiful shade in person :) The bodice is lined with cotton. I chose not to make the conventional adjustable lining for this dress.

The petticoat is a surprise find from the stash. I had been searching for a suitable fabric for the petticoat because I never had enough of the robe fabric for a petticoat too. It's a cotton blend (I think).

The trimmings are of the robe fabric and leftover scraps of my Courtois dress fabric.

Onwards to the pictures. There are loads.

The amazing bunny ear feathers. I recently bought three of these brown ostrich feathers from an interior decoration shop that was closing down and selling everything half price :)

I like how the train pools on the floor. Though I might be of a different mind later, I have yet to wear this around other people so I haven't experienced the dreaded trample on the train.

Awkward 18th century portrait pose with a harp.

"This is good. Where are you going to sit?" :)