Polka Dot Fun!

Polka dots were very fashionable during the civil war and Victorian era, as was the Polka Dance. Here is an original picture of a civil war photo (CDV) of a lady in a polka dot dress. Also pictured is my newly made civil war day dress.

The polka dot dress comes with a paisley apron. Paisley was another design that was also popular during the civil war. I think polka dots are fun and make a simple yet elegant dress. I've had the CDV for years and wanted to make a dress with polka dots. When I saw the fabric I had to buy it. I knew it would make a pretty dress.

I am selling the dress in my Etsy store at http://victoriantimes.etsy.com/. While making the dress my two year old told me I was making a dress to go dancing! (He loves civil war balls!)

1861 Victorian Civil War Wrapper

The dress pictured is from my 1861 Godey's book and features a dress known as a wrapper. I love the trim work on this dress. Notice how the dress buttons all the way down the front? By buttoning down the front it made it easier for women to put it on. They could wrap the dress around themselves hence the name wrapper.

Many women wore wrappers in the early morning hours before visitors would come by. Much like we may wear a robe today. Wrappers were also very common among pregnant women and nursing mamas.

The dress in the picture is nicer than a basic wrapper and could be worn as a visiting or calling dress.

Civil War Fashion - Right or Left?

The Civil War was a time of turmoil and distress in our nation, but it was also a time of beauty and elegance in women's clothing. While studying original garments, pictures, and fashion magazines of the era, I have come to find out some very interesting information on the construction of these beautiful dresses.
In our day and time women shirt's are buttoned right over left and men's left over right. Did you ever wonder how that got started? One day while finishing up a custom order dress I noticed that I had sewn the dress to button left over right. At first I was greatly troubled and thought I would have to start all over on the order. Then I decided to do a some research on the issue. I pulled out my CdV's (civil war photos), and my Godey's Lady Book to see if there was a right way to close the front of the dress during the civil war. Half of the CdV's in my collection were buttoned right over left, while the other was buttoned left over right.
I posted my discovery on on one of the civil war message boards, and asked if anyone knew any information on button preference. One person said that it depends on whether the lady was right handed or left handed and which way would be easier for her to button and unbutton. Another person said that it depended on whether the lady had a maid servant, who dressed her. My favorite answer was the following. Though out history men and women had a distinction in their clothing. There is a verse in the Bible that states a woman is not to dress like a man. During the civil war and after women's shirts started to become popular. To make a difference between men's shirts and women's the right over left and the left over right started to become the norm. So no in our time men wear their shirts left over right and women wear their shirts right over left.
I still don't know which answer is correct, but I do know there was not a preference during the civil war era. So if you want to add a little to you civil war impression think about having your next dress made to button left over right. And when someone tells you that your dress is buttoned wrong, you have a little piece of history to impart to them.

The dress pictured is one of my creations! You can see more of my dresses on Etsy

http://victoriantimes.etsy.com/