A bonnet fit for a Queen

6 days to go and I think, fingers crossed, that Victoria's wardrobe is more or less finished.There are one or two little finishing jobs to see to, but all of the main garments are now complete.

The last item to be finished was a bonnet for wearing to day time events.

Bonnets were an essential part of 19th century women's dress. They dominated millinery fashions throughout the first half of the century and were often regarded as emblematic of the ideals of Victorian womanhood: respectability, virtue, delicacy, authenticity and domesticity.* A woman could not leave the house with her head uncovered and bonnets were the most fashionable and most conventional choice of headwear.

Although the Queen would have worn a crown or tiara for state occasions and evening events, during the day she too wore bonnets. Unfortunately, there are very few early portraits of the Queen in everyday dress as most paintings depicted her in her robes of state, her wedding dress, or regalia. However, this 1856 portrait by Charles Lucien-Louis Muller depicts the Queen in a simple red day gown and white bonnet with ostrich feathers.

Queen Victoria, 1856, Charles Lucien Louis Muller (image found here)

There are also a number of the Queen's bonnets in the Royal Collections at the Museum of London, including a straw bonnet decorated with deep red ribbons.

"These are the only known examples of Queen Victoria's bonnets from before 1861" -  Bonnets, 1845-1855 , Museum of London (Mol.66.79/16,17,18)

Taking inspiration from the colour combinations in the portrait and extant bonnets, I chose a deep red silk twill that complements the red and gold silk gown for my bonnet with white lace and ostrich feather trimmings. The bonnet has the typical form of 1840s bonnets: a close fitting round brim framing the face and an almost horizontal line from the round crown to the brim, tied close under the chin. In the early 1840s, the brim extended forwards, hiding the wearer's profile, but towards the decade began to slip back to reveal more of the the hair and cheek.

The interior of the bonnet is trimmed with a lace ruffle that nestles around the face when worn. This will complete Victoria's outfits for daytime wear when out and about in town.

* References
Joanne Sullivan, "Bonnet Ribbons: A study of the use and representation of silk ribbons as ties on fashionable bonnets, 1830-1899", (Masters Dissertation, University of Glasgow, 2015)
Joan Nunn, Fashion in Costume 1200-1980, (London: The Herbert Press, 1984), 124.
Susan Hiner, Accessories to Modernity: Fashion and the Feminine in Nineteenth-Century France, (Philadelphia and Oxford: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), 3.

Wedding Dress Inspiration

27 days to go...

I have spent the last few days working on my evening and ball gown for Queen Victoria.

I decided to base this dress on Victoria's wedding dress and the gown will also be worn during the festival for the Pageant of Queen Victoria's life which will include her wedding.

Queen Victoria's Wedding Dress, 1840(MoL D325 a & b, Royal Collection)

The original dress is made of Spitalfield's silk. It was originally creamy white but has discoloured over time and is now a darker shade of cream. The dress has a pleated skirt and a separate bodice. The bodice has a very pronounced point at the waist and is decorated with Honiton bobbin lace. The skirt was also originally trimmed with a wide Honiton lace flounce.

Close up of Queen Victoria in Sir George Hayter's painting, "The Marriage of Queen Victoria", 1842. The Royal Collections. Image found here

My dress will be made in a creamy coloured moiré fabric. This is darker than the original shade of the dress but is in fact quite close to how the dress appears now. The skirt is pleated like the original wedding dress and I have adapted the bodice pattern I used for my other two dress to feature a deeper point at the front and a double puff sleeve. The gown will be trimmed with lace, although unfortunately nothing quite as extravagant and beautiful as the original Honiton lace.

The dress is not an exact replica but more of a homage to the wedding dress which also reflects some of the other dresses worn by Victoria for famous portraits. Some of these may have in fact been her wedding dress but is interesting to note that many of the paintings which depicted this dress were not true to the actual garment itself. Nevertheless, despite the differences between the paintings and engravings produced and published at the time, I have tried to stay true to the uncluttered line and simplicity of the original which provoked a new fashion for wedding gowns.

In this 1842 portrait by Winterhalter the Queen appears to be wearing her wedding gown - however, the sleeves and the lace frill appear shorter than on the original dress itself and the lace is missing from the cuffs. (Image found here)