A Fractured Fairytale

Last February some friends were going to be in Williamsburg for an historic vendor’s mini-marketplace, so I tagged along for the weekend. We were mostly in modern clothes, but we rented a house in the historic area for a couple of days, and spent one morning and afternoon wandering the town in 18^th century costume.
 
This trip seemed like the perfect excuse to wear my cream wool redingote again, only paired with some different accessories to make it feel like a new outfit. Originally, I planned to wear my satin and faux fur mantle and muff, but it ending up being too warm to wear for more than a few pictures. Instead, I wore my sheer black ruffled mantle and a newly decorated black wool hat. My other accessories included a walking stick I purchased at Colonial Williamsburg the year before, earrings and a little pinkie ring from Dames a la Mode, green riding habit boots from American Duchess, and a padded silk reticule for my camera.  
 
The hat started life as a cheap wool felt hat from Target. I first decorated it to wear with my early 1780s riding habit, but I was never really happy with the shape or ribbons. For this incarnation, I wired the brim and then rolled the felt over the wire to give a nicely finished edge. It was my first time trying this technique, so it’s a bit wonky in places, but it gave the hat just the right structure it needed. I added a band and double bow of antique black and silver ribbon, and two large antique ostrich plumes.
 
Since my redingote is made from a sheer, delicate wool, I added a silk taffeta hem facing to protect it from the bricks and oyster shells of the historic area. It’s simply a strip of white taffeta that I attached with running stitch. Unfortunately, I made it a bit too wide at first, and it makes the hem fall oddly in these photos. I’ve since narrowed the facing so the skirt hangs better. The next time I make a redingote, I want to add a set of lacing strips like you see on the LACMA redingote. I skipped this when I first made the dress, but without a sash to keep the tension at the waist, the pins loosen with wear and cause wrinkles. I know this would be less of a problem with functional buttons and buttonholes, but I prefer the adjustability of pins. I may go back and add it to this dress, but if not, I definitely want to try it on my next redingote.