– Making 18th Century Rump –
Well, you can imagine my surprise when I came to discover that I’ve been calling this whole ensemble WRONG! What I mean to say is that the ensemble I have spent months making (“Robe a la Polonaise”) is NOT in fact a Polonaise ensemble.
But I did research, why hadn’t I discovered this error? But it’s alright. I’m sorry to my readers if you knew this little fact all along and I’m only now catching on.
Allow me to rectify my error by explaining why I say that this “polonaise” ensemble is technically mislabled.
Technically, I should have been calling the orange pouf part of my skirt a Retroussée instead.
A Polonaise gown is attached to an unstructured bodice, where the bodice swoops back into a gathered skirt. Another point to notice is that true polonaise gowns are secured together at the top of the bust, giving that relaxed and casual look to the garment. For Anglaise gowns in the polonaise style, the bodices completely close in the front whereas traditional polonaise do not.
The biggest difference between a traditional polonaise dress and a retroussée skirt is that a retroussée skirt generally is not attached to a bodice, but rather is a normal, free and detachable layer which is simply “gathered up” in a polonaise style.
Figured below in the Polonaise dress from fashion plates from the 1770s-1780s.
Notice the falling effect from the front of the gown, only being secured at the top of the bodice with the green bow.
Notice the open front “flying” or draping open as the lady appears to be walking.
Figured below skirts pulled up in the Retroussée style
Notice the gathered skirt as a separate item from the bodice and petticoat.
Here is an Anglaise gown in the Polonaise style for comparison.
The gathered skirt can be attached to the bodice or can be a freestanding skirt which can be added to the ensemble.
If you’d like to research the difference between these gowns and why they are so frequently confused, please read TEMPS D’ÉLÉGANCE article on the subject! She does a great job breaking down key differences to look out for when you are making your own gown.
To reiterate the end goal/look of this ensemble, the bodice will be the elaborate stays I made not long ago, laying on top of the darling exterior skirt with contrasting orange silk chaunting poufs.
Of course as I mentioned in the ensemble breakdown article I wrote way back when, I have already sewn together an under petticoat out of a thicker and textured brown tablecloth. It sits perfectly over my new rump I made two months ago.
Making the Pink Skirt
The fabric I purchased that will make up the body of the exterior petticoat is 3 yards of peach colored cotton with light pink flowers and vines adding a bit of depth and texture to the ensemble. Additionally, I also purchased matching peach organza from Joanns.
I knew that I wanted the organza ruffle at the bottom of the skirt to be perfectly level, so I decided to cut the peach cotton in half, making two lengths of 1 1/2 yard pairs. Taking one finished long edge, I folded the bottom edge under by an inch (since this edge of the fabric will not fray) then sewed the hem down with felling or hemming stitches.
Next I moved on to working with the peach organza. I lay the organza against an empty wall in my room and tried to make the edge of the organza as even as possible by lining the edge of the fabric against the straight edge of the wall. Then, gently arranged the organza so that the wrinkles were gone and the weave looked relatively straight without warp. Measuring from down from the wall-side of the fabric, I marked the organza at 13.5″ with pins, at intervals of every inch down the length of the fabric. Once the pins were in place, I slowly cut the fabric as straight as possible.
When the new strip was cut out I then folded the top edge of the fabric by an inch then basted that fold into place. I chose the edge of the fabric that was finished and free from fraying so that by turning the edge under by an inch it would hide the ugly binding on the side of the organza. Once that was finished, I moved to the bottom of the organza strip and noticed that the organza was already fraying really badly. I know this was the wrong thing to do, but I lit a candle and heated the edge of the fabric above the heat of the flame to melt the plastic fibers together and keep the edge from fraying even more. However, I did burn a little too much in some places but after the process was done I turned the edges over by 1/2 inch and baste them in place. On the top layer I pulled the basted thread to make gathers along the top edge, and then pinned the ruffles to the skirt 12 inches above the hem and secured the organza ruffle to the cotton with back stitches.
Et Voila, a perfectly level hem!
After stitching up both panels (front & back pieces) by hand, I left about 10 inches on each side to overlap when I tied the petticoat to my waist which also leaves plenty of room to dig my hands into my pockets. Now that both sides are even and attached I could easily begin pleating the skirt into a proper shape and length, and removing the excess fabric from the waist. I would 10/10 recommend this method to anyone making a ruffled skirt. By doing it this way, you can always ensure the ruffle will be perfectly level all around the skirt edge.
Making the Retroussée Skirt
I purchased 1.5 yards (1.37 meters) of a vibrant orange silk chaunting through an Etsy seller with the plan to make the pouffed part of the skirt. After thoroughly ironing the wrinkles out, I found the center of the fabric and then pinned the silk to the center of my dress form then pinned the ends to the sides of the mannequin. Normally, I like this process of pinning to help pleat the fabric around the waist, but I decided to instead gather the waist while the silk hung on the form.
Then gathered the poufs with running stitches and secured with a matching orange ribbon on the underside of the skirt. I also gathered the front raw edges of the skirt and finished the edge with the same orange ribbon. Then the skirt was finished, after quickly heming the raw edges. I debated on adding fly fringe to the front of the skirt but decided against it as it would make the dress look messy and busy.
Summary
Finally after a full year of sewing and slowly working on this ensemble and making the accessories (including the wig and matching shoes) I couldn’t be more excited about this project. I hope to take photos in the spring to showcase this look but you never know… I might get the itch to share sooner.
Hope this brief post was interesting! Until next project,
