YR 508  Child's Promenade Jacket/Dress  $ 14.95

Promenade Dress with Hat Circa 1883-1887 For French or German 19" doll

This costume is an exact copy of an actual child's dress hat of the mid 1800's. It has been adapted to enhance your own lovely French or German doll. The original was made in coffee-au-lait ( brown) plaid taffeta & trimmed with ruby red silk faille. The full pleated skit had a large box pleat at center backhand double inverted pleats of red silkset in at center front. The plaid taffeta jacket was fitted in the back and hung open at the front, trimmed with twelve tiny buttons. The jacket front was filled with a pouched vestee of silk faille. The contrasting faille was used for the Mandarin or Russian collar, the jacket cuffs, and a large bustle-bow at center back. Pleated white lace was used to trim the jacket neck & sleeves. The steeple-crown hat, so popular in this period, was made of brown velvet and lined with cream silk. The turned-up brim was trimmed with a large red silk faille bow and matching ostrich tipped plume.

Suggested Fabrics; We suggest two fabrics of contrasting texture or color. The jacket & skirt would make up well in cotton poplin, broad cloth, linen, taffeta, silk, light-weight woolens, or faille. The vestee, skirt insert, cuffs, & bow trims, on the jacket & hat adapt well in silk, taffeta, faille, or satin. Cotton or linen would be the fabric of choice for lining, where stability is desired, inside of hat crown, inner bodice of jacket, & skirt inset. The elegant hat would be pretty made up in most any fabric. We would suggest a fabric with body, such as heavy silk, faille, or velvet with the turned-up brim facing of silk, organza, or tulle.