Widely worn throughout the United States, the short gown was easy to make and comfortable to wear. The short gown was worn by women of nearly every class, from enslaved women and servants to rural and well-to-do women for everyday informal wear. Easily adjusted and front-fastening, the short gown was also ideal for pregnancy and breastfeeding, which took up a large part of many women’s lives. A turn of the century woodcut with a baby on the lap of a woman wearing a high-waisted, hip-length short gown implies this uses follow fashion: many extant examples are clearly from the turn of the 19th century with fashionable high waists.
Enclosed are two graded patterns: a plain high waisted short gown with a back facing and a lined, high-waisted short gown with long sleeves and collar.
Original garment was featured in DAR Museum’s exhibit “An Agreeable Tyrant”: Fashion After the Revolution.
Check the measurement charts for sizing. Patterns are printed on 20lb weight paper, with multiple sizes each uniquely color-coded on the pattern. Includes documentation, photographs, drawings, and sewing instructions focusing on period construction methods, but can be sewn using modern sewing machine methods. The person who buys any one of these patterns can be confident that the pattern shapes are period correct which allows the individual the option to be as period correct in sewing techniques and construction as he or she wishes to be.
