October 2005
A day dress after the "tailor-made" fashion from a grey rayon suiting fabric with cotton velvet accents. The bodice was drafted from a series of diagrams in an online copy of "The elements of modern dressmaking for the amateur and professional dressmaker" c1894.
The underskirt is my black cotton fully pleated skirt as worn with my interpretation of the black suit from Portrait of a Lady.
The bonnet is a covered straw hat. Contrary to what I was expecting, it stayed in place the whole time I wore it to the Howick Historic Village on a day that threatened to rain and was rather windy. The observant may have spotted the snail brooch hiding among the flowers in my bonnet. I was very close to buying a sparkling fly pin after the fashion of the day but this fellow was 1/5 the price and looked more in keeping with the rununculas.