The curator of costumes at the DAR Museum, and her summer intern Bella, have been dressing mannequins in storage to prepare for a photo shoot for an upcoming exhibition and catalog. In this post, they share some of the tips for getting the shape of the dresses just right. Between you and me, I don't know how they managed to wear this much clothing and tolerate the heat and humidity. It's an interesting look at the fashion of the past.

From the DAR Museum:

"Our curator of costume and her summer intern Bella have been dressing mannequins in storage, in preparation for photo shoots for our next exhibition and its catalog. Secret tip to get the conical shape of colonial dresses right:

1: Take a pattern from the lining (Pellon interfacing with inch-square grids is great, held in place with tiny entomological pins going through the lining only).

2: Make the pattern in cardboard (the corrugated ribs simulate the boning!)

3: Try it under the gown and

4: Make adjustments as necessary including cutting tabs over the hips just like an original set of stays would have

5: Cover it with Tyvek (it’s archival!) Then we are ready to dress the manikin:

6: We wrap brown paper around the lower half to simulate the bulk of legs, so the petticoats don’t collapse. We add under-petticoats (the undergarments)-- and for this period, side hoops also known as “panniers”; then

7: We add “arms” (quilt batting rolled up and covered with knee-hi stockings: they’re archival too) and the petticoat (18th c term for the skirt which shows in front: this gown has an extra panel of its fabric presumably culled from its original matching petticoat which we’ve added to fill in the front.)

8: In the last shot you see we are NEARLY there.

What can you see we still have to do, to get it ready for photography and display?