I created this 1875 evening gown as my 3rd-year research project at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. The dress is based on an original fashion plate from The English Woman's Domestic Magazine. I choose this design for its rich colours and trimmings. The dress contains 10 meters of pleating, 19 meters of hand-made bias binding, and 6 meters of hand-dyed cotton fringe. 

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Materials: silk taffeta, silk satin, cotton organdy. 

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Research

Below are the original fashion plate and some of the reference photos I collected. At the start of this project, I visited the Cornell University Costume and Textile Collection and the St. Fagans Costume Collection in order to study and photograph original garments. 

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