Sense and Sensibility 1995 &2008:

Marianne's white dress with blue dots

I found it amusing that this dress was worn by both the 1995 and the 2008 Marianne.  I’ve adored this dress since seeing the 1995 version and was delighted to find the 2008 Marianne wore it in enough scenes to get extremely good looks at the construction of the dress.

Pattern: S&S Elegant Lady’s Closet

I found this fabric for the dress at Joann fabrics:

It’s very lightweight cotton.  The lining is that sheermist batiste Hancock fabrics carries.

The dress has a drawstring front closure at neck and waist with an apron front attached to the self 'belt' that buttons to the bodice at the sides.  I did modify the pattern slightly for the front closing.  To draw the apron up nice and even with the bodice, I use two pins near the buttons to make two small tucks in the belt.  I was amazed that it stayed in place all day without an extra pin or two at the center.  The dress is lined fully with blue instead of a separate piece and I used the blue to make that cross lining inside the bodice.  I looked at drawings from the Nancy Bradfield book until it all made sense.

If you look carefully in the pictures, you can see a hint of the dark blue lining.  Unfortunately, the sun washed out the dots in the pictures so I’ll be taking more pictures later of this dress as well.  The dress is worn with a shift and bodiced petticoat and even with those layers, it’s nice and lightweight.  I think this is my favorite of the Regency dresses I’ve made so far.

Disclaimer:  Pictures are the property of the copyright holder.  This site is non-profit, and is in no way affiliated with any of the copyright holders. No copyright infringement is intended - copyrighted images are being used for costume study.

Update 2-23-09: I finally got around to taking more pictures.  The inside of the dress, the inside of the apron front, lining closed, bodice closed and apron front in place.

The same sequence with it on me.  Lining closed, bodice closed, apron front in place and a full front length pic.  All taken in my bathroom, of course!