1870s Sketch

1. I am completely in love with the icon I'm using for this entry. Vintage photos of pretty girls? Pssst. Butterflies? Hell yeah!

2. Last night, I sketched up the design for the 1870s dress. The whole thing is here, but there are selected bits of it under the cut. Here's the original, if you need a refresher.

The purpose of this sketch was to get the seamlines of the jacket firmly in my head. You really can't see any seams in the photos I have, so I used this paletot from the March 1877 Peterson's magazine to give me a guide. It has two darts in the front, while the pink/gold bustle gown has only one, but I'll probably use the pattern for the paletot as a base. (My original plan was to use a Truly Victorian bodice pattern. In the end, it will probably be a combination.)

( Behold my masterwork! )

If anybody has any suggestions about proportions, etc. feel free to share them!

Crossposted after a fashion (har har har) to dressdiaries -- sorry if this shows up twice on your flist.