Before I could spoil Lavinia properly, I needed to put a few base elements in place.
The first priority was anchoring her to her stand. I’ve always favored saddle stands to others, because they impact the fit of a doll’s costume the least. But with a floppy China doll body, this alone isn’t stable enough to keep Lavinia safe from falls.
To hold her securely, I stitched a “corset” with a channel to slide the front piece of the stand into. The back piece of the stand is held close to Lavinia’s body by lacing. I should note, I wasn’t designing the corset with perfect fit or historic accuracy as my goal (although it’s not far off). This is a functional piece only, intended to make the coming dressing and undressing free of unnecessary worries.
The second thing I’ve made Lavinia is a base slip, corded at the bottom as was the practice of the time. It’s not attractive! But it’s a good first layer. It’s purpose is to begin building out the “bell” shape popular in the 1840’s. The circumference is only about 20″, but the next layer will be 22″, the final layer will be 25″, and her dresses will range from 30″-35″.
If you’re wondering about the choice of a full slip, as opposed to a petticoat, I learned in some of my first research into the 1840’s that full slips did exist – and if you pop over HERE to the Resources page, you’ll find a link to the costume collection of John Bright and a wonderful example of just such a slip.
Initially, I planned for the slip to have sleeves. But I pulled them back out and replaced them with facings when I realized how bulky they would be under Lavinia’s dresses. Her poor sausage arms are already big enough, and there’s no need to draw attention to their size with lumpy layers.
Another thing I should draw attention to is the cartridge pleating. As fashion pushed for larger skirt circumferences at the end of the 1830’s, pleats were used more often to force the extra fabric into the waistline. When this no longer allowed enough skirt size, cartridge pleating replaced tucks (in about 1841). Lavinia’s planned dresses range from roughly 1839 to 1851, so some of them earlier than 1841, but I needed to compromise and use cartridge pleating for the slip anyway, due to the very tiny size of Lavinia’s waist.
Finally, Lavinia was wearing a chemise when I purchased her – old, but not necessarily original to her. I’ve saved it, but I’ve decided not to have her wear it because the neckline could show when she wears ballgowns. She has the upper half of her slip to cover this area, as well as a corset beneath this. I feared one more layer might ruin her lovely, slim, figure. So even though a woman of the 1840’s wearing a full slip would still have worn her chemise underneath, Lavinia will not.
To follow along with the rest of Lavinia’s Underpinnings project, click right HERE.
And to see all of her costuming projects as I add things, pop over HERE.