Harper's Bazar, Vol.IV, No.12 - "Dress with Basque Waist for Elderly Lady" Pt.I

   I am still working from the same issue of HB (Vol.IV, No.12) because the damn thing just has so many good patterns in it! This time it was the No.II pattern on the supplement, a "dress with basque waist for elderly lady."

   Now, I love the word "elderly" in antique patterns because, more often than not, that translates as "larger". Larger in the relative sense, of course. One might get a pattern that comes out at a 28" waist rather than a 23", still small by today's standards (yes, I consider a size 8 to be small, lol).

 As you can see, I made some changes along the way, especially to the neckline. I felt that the fringe trim was just too much around the neck like that. I also decided on a simple satin bow at the center back waist rather than the elaborate medallion shown in the plate. (That, and I did not have the materials and/or patience to make the medallion.

Here we have the description for the dress. the pattern included only the body parts for the bodice, with the sleeves being taken from a different pattern, as instructed in the last few sentences there.

Below you can see the bodice in mid construction, inside-out. For the lining I used a scrap combination of rayon silky lining, pink, and silver grey silk.

You can also see that the fringe trim is not sewn "into the seam", but rather lies over the lining. I did this for ease of removal, should it ever need it.