Dress to Impress

The National Trust property of Polesden Lacey hosted an exhibition in 2025 called Dress To Impress, inspired by the Devonshire House Ball of 1898. I reinterpreted and recreated a dress worn by Lady Alexandra Acheson, which was itself meant to reprsent "Hunting Costume, period of Louis XV".

My patterns for this gown drew from both 1700s hunting wear and 1890s evening wear: most notably, the sleeves are taken from 1700s riding coats, while the cut of the bodice is very late Victorian. The skirt is a late 1890s shape, but with the usual waist darts and shaping replaced with cartridge pleating to create the fullness seen in the photograph. Underneath the gown is a cream satin skirt, a petticoat, and hip pads to help achieve the correct silhouette. I also created a corset for my model, though it was not neccessary for the mannequin.

I constructed the hat from a capline, stretching, steaming, starching and shaping it into a tricorn, trimmed with feathers.