Sheer Delight: Mid-Victorian Sheer Dresses

Source : GBACG 

In the 1860s women made one-piece dresses in sheer fabrics for warmer weather. In the north, the popular fabric was barège, a thin gauze fabric made from wool or a wool blended with silk or cotton. In the southern climates, sheer solid or printed cottons were fashionable.

Mid-Victorian daytime fashion was not all about heavy, opaque fabrics; warm weather allowed for light dresses of semi-transparent fabric like barege and muslin, trimmed with embroidery, ribbons and lace for a cool, floating visual effect. During the 1840s and 1870s, these gowns, known as sheer dresses or "clear muslin dresses," were extremely popular at seaside and tourist resorts. They were popular in England and North America, and were worn in the morning, afternoon, and evening depending on the bodice type. They followed mainstream design lines but featured characteristics such as shorter sleeves, partial bodice linings, and, depending on the sheerness of the top cloth, different colored under-dresses. This post will concentrate on sheer dresses for day or afternoon use.

Source : GBACG

The majority of surviving sheer dresses are made of cotton or silk, however light wools were frequently available and used. Fabric textures ranged from crinkled to smooth, plain-weave to gauze, sheer to semi-sheer. Most sheer gowns in historical images appear to be solid white or black, with the exception of a print or scattered floral embroidery. Surviving clothing are white, tan, and black with woven-in stripes and windowpane checks, embroidered dots and flower sprigs, and printed designs in brown, light to medium blue, lilac, and even red and black on light backgrounds. Plain white with no applied trim, or simply whitework embroidery, appears to be most common on extant garments, while plain black appears to be most common in period photos and daguerreotypes, although Godey's and Peterson's fashion magazines from 1859 to 1861 mention sheer evening dresses of blue and pink grenadine, organdie, and barege. White or light sheer bodices were always lined in white, and black bodices were always lined in black, but unlined black gowns can be seen in period images over either white or black petticoats. 

Source : Pinterest

Fashion fabric necklines could be high, with a jewel neckline or even a standing collar; low, from shoulder to shoulder in a straight line (particularly in the 1840s); or mid-level, with a square or shallow V-neck shape. The bodice lining beneath the high or mid-level necklines stopped around 4 or 5 inches below, leaving a single sheer sheet of fabric concealing the décolletage. Sleeves on these bodices were generally elbow, 34 length, or full length, most commonly in a loose bishop or pagoda style, and lined no further down than the elbow. The sleeve lining could be as simple as a short "jockey" underneath the sheer, larger sleeve. Waistline fitting treatments included loose gathers, knife pleats, tucks, and darts, with center-front smocking, gathers, and fan-fronts being more fashionable in the 1840s and '50s, and darts being more popular in the late 1960s and '70s. These gowns have both pointed and round waistline styles, as well as either front or back openings. Round waists have self-fabric waistbands that are either built in or covered with a belt or ribbon.

Although there are surviving clothing and period images that show sheer bodices and separate skirts, most surviving garments and period images show the bodice and skirt linked to each other. In the early 1870s, separate "basque" bodices with peplums are also seen. The skirts of these dresses were typically left unlined, with a deep (5 to 8 in.) self-fabric hem. A black or white "nice" petticoat, or under-dress, was worn underneath to show through with exceedingly sheer fabric, as seen in images, although fashion publications encouraged women explore a colored under-dress with a sheer white dress, especially for dressy occasions. Skirts were either left unflounced (plain), trimmed with broad self-fabric flounces (1840s and 1850s), or trimmed with thinner self-fabric ruffles and attached. Skirts were either left plain (unflounced) or finished with large self-fabric flounces (1840s and 1850s) or thinner self-fabric ruffles with self-fabric ruching and bands (1860s and 1870s). As skirt trim, a single-color ribbon banding was occasionally employed.

Source : GBACG

The most prevalent trimmings were self-fabric ruffles, ruching, shirring, ornate tucks, knife pleats, whitework embroidery, and delicate lace, particularly white "blonde" lace. Although Godey's Lady's Book of September 1860 mentions a "dress of clear muslin" trimmed with "[a] ceinture of green ribbon, with flowing ends, fastened in a bow on one side," ribbon colors are more pastel than vivid. The sleeves are made up of four muslin puffs divided by rows of green ribbon. The skirt is [finished with] a broad and deep flounce, bordered with green ribbon, and arranged in the style of a festoon," and the Victoria & Albert Museum possesses a ca. 1869 white cotton muslin dress trimmed with apple-green satin ribbon and self-fabric ruffles. If you want to create your own sheer muslin dress, you can use the same design for the bodice and lining and just cut out the top of the lining neckline and the bottom of the sleeves, or you can use two distinct patterns.  You'll need a gathered, fan-front, or darted mid-Victorian bodice pattern with a high to medium-high neckline for the sheer fashion fabric, or one of the historic patterns now available that are specifically for sheer dresses.