18th century blog

I started making this pelisse last winter for the 12th night ball. I raced to get it finished and didn’t quite make it, but it was still wearable enough for the ball.

After the ball I wasn’t as motivated to finish it so it’s been in the same state ever since, but now I have finally done the final trimming and the arm holes.

I used the instructions at Marquise but made it a bit shorter and less wide. The pattern is from the 1760s but it’s a very basic shape that stayed very similar for several decades.

I wanted my pelisse to go with both 1770s, 1780s and early 1790s styles, as exemplified by the following three fashion plates from 1778, 1785 and 1790, and I guess it probably could go with earlier styles as well. The early 1790s is stretching it a bit if you want it to be fully authentic, as all fashion plates and paintings I’ve seen show the pelisse getting gradually longer in the late 80s and early 90s, but it’s close enough for me for the time being.

Since I wanted something neutral that goes with everything I used cream taffeta with a thick wool lining, and trimmed it with a butchered second hand fake fur. It’s actually really warm and works well for cold Swedish winters. I messed up the hood and had to improvise a bit since I didn’t have enough fabric to completely redo it. It looks fine but doesn’t quite have that perfect fan pleat in the back. All hand sewn as usual.

I will eventually make a proper photoshoot with this, but I want really wintery photos and the snow is just going away here, so it may have to wait until next winter! By then I will also have made a matching muff for it from the rest of the fur.