Last year I decided I wanted a riding habit for UTR. However, even though I had worn wool dresses to UTR in 2009, the idea of a wool habit in Virginia in June was rather unappealing, so I thought of linen. I had thought that the one pictured in
Fashion in Detail from the 17th and 18th Centuries was linen, but my memory was wrong. This led me to look online, where I found
this description of a linen habit on the 18th Century Woman Yahoogroup. I also found
this fustian habit in the V&A (sadly, with no pictures!). These two habits made me feel confident making one in linen. Fashion did have to be altered for warm climates!
I took many construction pictures along the way, but for now, I'm just sharing pictures of the finished project!
A few details--The natural linen for the habit, white linen lining, white for the shirt, and button molds are from
Burnley and Trowbridge. The linen buckram interfacing is from
William Booth Draper, as are the cuff buttons that you can't see. The blue silk is from
Pure Silks. I'm wearing my
Robert Land Regency boots that I bought from
Spencer's Mercantile.
