A 1780s Redingote

I went into depth on the construction of my redingote here, so this post is really to just show it off a bit! The dress is made of wool from William Booth, Draper, lined with linen from Burnley and Trowbridge, trimmed with silk from Pure Silks, and worn over a petticoat of cotton voile from Pure Silks. I'm wearing it over a shift, stays, petticoat, and split bumroll. My cap is a large circle of satin striped silk chiffon gathered into a band. Looking back, the band could've been a little larger!


My hair and makeup was done by Jenny-Rose, who's a true master of getting fussy hair into amazing styles. My attempt at a wig was less than successful, to put it mildly. I made the hairpieces (buckles and a tail) based on the instructions in 18th Century Hair and Wig Styling by Kendra Van Cleave, which is an amazing resource for elaborate 18th century hairstyles. (My wig failure had nothing to do with the book, and everything to do with a very badly executed boil set in which I melted the curls into little dreadlock type things. It looked fine when I removed the rollers, but when I started to tease...)


I found that this style truly needed a split bumroll, like the one Aubry of A Fractured Fairytale made. The neck to hem portion of the back didn't really stand out with my regular bumroll. The split emphasized that pleat.

This dress was very comfortable and great fun to wear. I love the more tailored styles of the 18th century!