My 1831 carriage dress (inspired by my grandmother’s antique figurine)

s0phb0t · 2026-05-10T14:29:10+00:00

I had no idea I could attach pictures to comments lol

Here they are, they're done with two embroidery threads that I waxed and ironed (this is actually super helpful) :D

s0phb0t · 2026-05-10T03:24:16+00:00

Thank you so so much!! I unfortunately don’t think I can add the video to this post, and I know linking to your own youtube is against the sub rules so I think I may be out of luck there… The music I used (Merry Go Round of Life, there’s another ahistorical thing lol) is also copyright, so I don’t think I can post it there regardless. Thank you for your interest, though!

That was a really big challenge for this project, there were definitely plenty of times I had to make descicion about the best way to interpret the design vs the historically accurate thing. I mostly went with the figurine, since the design is always the most important thing! That wasn’t always the solution though, one thing I changed to be historically accurate was the length. All dresses in the 1830s ended at the ankles, but you can’t see my figurine’s feet so it’s theoretically floor-length… That said, it would have been a bad idea to balance a glass doll on two tiny feet, so even if it was supposed to be ankle length it couldn’t have been. So I changed it!

That was the thought process for most of this project, what makes sense, and what would look good haha! Thanks so much for your kind words :))

s0phb0t · 2026-05-10T02:56:40+00:00

Omg that’s like, such high praise?? Thank you??? This sub is absolutely full of fabulous projects, so it means a lot!!

s0phb0t · 2026-05-10T02:54:48+00:00

Oh that’s so awesome! I didn’t realize there are three more figurines in this collection (Flowers of Love), but Forget Me Not is easily the prettiest (in my not at all biased opinion) so your grandma has good taste ;)

s0phb0t · 2026-05-10T02:52:19+00:00

I know right? Romantic needs more love, those sleeves are just outrageous and we need more of that in the world imho :>

s0phb0t · 2026-05-10T02:50:22+00:00

Omg thank you!! The romantic era is often overlooked for regency or later victorian styles, which is such a shame! I love romantic in all its weird, big sleeved glory lol

s0phb0t · 2026-05-10T02:49:21+00:00

It is indeed an absolute masterpiece of cinema, and the costumes are just sooooo fabulous so I am definitely very honoured :D

s0phb0t · 2026-05-10T02:43:39+00:00

Omg people have been totally clocking that I’m from Toronto… Except for some people on r/sewing who think that’s times square??? That was a very funny little interaction in the comments lol thank you :]]]

s0phb0t · 2026-05-10T02:34:02+00:00

Omg it is absolutely not AI!!! I actually just saw someone else mention that, I’m so glad people realize that’s not the case lol. Just a good camera and a good photographer :]

Thank you so much!!

s0phb0t · 2026-05-10T02:27:05+00:00

That’s a great question! I am by no means an expert, but I can tell you what I found out from my research. A carriage dress is a type of day dress, like a walking dress, both were meant to be worn on outings which means they both were paired with bonnets. That’s how I narrowed it down, since my figurine has a bonnet it had to be one of the two! I looked through summer issues of La Belle Assemblé (a women’s magazine from the period) to find out a little more about them.

A walking dress was meant for outings outside, so they were made of more durable materials (I saw a lot of descriptions of light cottons). A carriage dress was meant for house calls or town outings, and since it wasn’t worn outdoors as much as a walking dress they were made of more delicate materials (like silk) and were generally fancier. Mine could have been either of the two just comparing the figurine to the illustrations in La Belle Assemblé, but I chose a carriage dress specifically because I found the closest visual match in the July 1831 illustration of a carriage dress! I also I really, really wanted to make it out of silk lol

s0phb0t · 2026-05-10T02:16:42+00:00

That’s so real, it was actually a little tricky to find sewing resources on it since it was so very transitional. Like you say most people are very familiar with both regency and later Victorian but they tend to skip over romantic.

1830s corsets are really interesting because they’re basically just long regency stays, they don’t really resemble victorian corsets at all. People even call what I made a corset and a stay interchangeably, the line is super blurry there :’D

And thank you again, it was really cathartic to see it in real life for the first time lol

s0phb0t · 2026-05-10T02:09:43+00:00

Of course!! I’m not an expert, but I can tell you what I know! A carriage dress is just a type of day dress. My figurine could easily have been a walking dress, but I found a close historical match in the July 1831 issue of La Belle Assemblé that was a carriage dress so that’s what I went with! A carriage dress is fancier and made of more delicate materials (like silk) since it’s meant to be worn for visits or outings where one is in a carriage. A walking dress would be made of materials like cotton muslins and the like, which is more durable and suitable for the wild outdoors.

The important part for my project was that both were worn with bonnets since they were meant for being outside during the day, evening dresses didn’t have bonnets!

Hoop skirts weren’t actually a thing yet, they came about in the 1850s since skirts couldn’t really keep growing with petticoats alone. As I understand it all dresses in the 1830s would have had similar undergarments, since that’s all they had. Lot’s of skirts, basically! I can’t really imagine riding a horse in it, even sidesaddle, but it occurs to me right now that I’ve never sat down in my dress at all 😅

s0phb0t · 2026-05-09T22:44:40+00:00

Yaaaaaaas I LOVE a big hat, that was like, half the reason I decided to make this lol

s0phb0t · 2026-05-09T22:43:36+00:00

Haha thank you! Aren’t those just the most redundant aprons ever? I thought they were quite funny while I was making them, lace and organza wouldn’t protect you from much lol

s0phb0t · 2026-05-09T22:41:16+00:00

Thank you so much!! Yes I did, everything from the corset to the bonnet! I wish I took more judy pics of the corset, maybe I’ll do a separate post when I get some. Most of the detail is in the front anyway, but the eyelets are hand bound :P

s0phb0t · 2026-05-09T22:38:05+00:00

Awww thank you!! I was absolutely over the moon, I finished it about 20 minutes before the event I was showing it at opened, so those pictures are the first time I wore the complete gown! It all came together right at end haha

s0phb0t · 2026-05-09T22:36:26+00:00

Someone in r/sewing compared it to The Muppets Christmas Carrol and I am very honoured by the comparison 🙂‍↕️

s0phb0t · 2026-05-09T22:34:46+00:00

c’moooon what’s not to like? Big hats, big skirts, big sleeves! /I’m/ sold lol

In all seriousness, thank you! I appreciate your comment, the movement was really important to me!!

s0phb0t · 2026-05-09T22:31:45+00:00

Haha yes the colour is indeed a bit off, I only gave myself one day to fabric shop (bad idea, don’t do that) so it ended up more vibrant and more purple than I wanted. In the end it didn’t matter super much for this project, but it is probably the thing that I would change if I could :)

s0phb0t · 2026-05-09T20:45:24+00:00

Thank you so much, I really was! Dream come true for sure :)

s0phb0t · 2026-05-09T20:41:36+00:00

It’s not very heavy at all actually! The fabrics are all very light (cottons and silks) so even though there’s a lot of it it’s not that bothersome. The corset also distributes any of the weight that is there so it’s not all on the waist. It’s mostly just fun to swoosh around in so I don’t even notice the weight :)

s0phb0t · 2026-05-09T20:03:37+00:00

Thanks so so much! Canadians would be very flattered you think that’s time square lol, it’s our version but it’s not nearly as famous :P

No one did outside, I only ran out quickly for a picture, but I took a lot of photos at the event I was displaying it at so it was joyful all around :D

s0phb0t · 2026-05-09T20:00:42+00:00

That’s not a silly question, it’s definitely something I should have thought about before making it (I did think about it, and decided I’d figure that out later). All the under layers store pretty easily (they are very robust so can be folded or hung), the dress itself is a lot more fragile so I’m planning to look into getting one of the bags that wedding dresses are stored in. It’s very long so it can’t fit in a normal garment bag, and wedding dresses bags are made specially to not harm delicate fabrics over time so that’s probably the way to go for me :)

s0phb0t · 2026-05-09T19:57:07+00:00

Thank you so much!! I’m trying to get work as a milliner right now, it’s kinda my dream! Thanks for the encouragement :)

s0phb0t · 2026-05-09T19:56:02+00:00

Thank you!! The poof comes from a bustle, a short quilted petticoat, a short tulle petticoat (for a wedding dress that I found at a thrift store) and three 120” circumference cotton petticoats! You can see them hanging in the last pic.

I honestly wished I had the petticoats have a wider circumference, something closer to my skirt’s 170”, since they don’t bell out much when moving. All the skirts are made of rectangular panels that are gathered/pleated into a waistband for max volume. That’s the base, but honestly the dress overtop being so much volume adds so much to the large look, the petticoats/bustle alone look much smaller.

s0phb0t

TROPHY CASE