V203: New Dress Design: Robe Royaliste

I don’t have enough 18th century gowns.  I have jackets and things, and I do love jackets, but when it comes to full gowns, I have, like, one (soon to be two).

So time for a new one!  I found some lavender taffeta online and thought it would make a great 1790s roundgown, paired with a huge black silk sash, and giant black Gainsborough hat.  I’m not settled on the style, but here are my initial sketches:

This gown will be “Robe Royaliste,” if we were in France in 1790.  Both the purple and the black were royalist colors, and add in a little green or yellow and the statement would be obvious!

I’ve been perusing fashion plates from Dames a la Mode, to find some inspo.  All of these would also be Royalist gowns, in France, and will help decide a final design for my Robe Royaliste:

Journal des Luxus, April 1792.  I adore this, the gown, the hat, the belt.  I like the interesting combo of redingote and gathered front, like a gaulle.

Journal des Luxus, 1791

Undated (but probably 1792) by Ann Frankland Lewis

Other inspiration….

From Kyoto Costume Institute – not a fashion plate, but one of my favorite 1790s gowns, and would be a savvy design for what I’m thinking.

George Romney Unknown lady, ca. 1786. – with the redingote collar and button cuffs.  The front looks gathered…?  A little earlier than my target dates.

From LACMA, the back of their stunning 1790s redingote.  I adore the huge mannish collar(s) on this one.

Marie Louise Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun. Marie-Louise of Bourbon-Sicily. 1790 .  I like the idea of redingote details, but I want the skirt to be closed.  The gathered-bust and long sleeve gaulle styles are also enticing, if the taffeta I bought will work that way.