Size 8-18 Surplice Bodice Dress c. 1810-1815

When chooseing the size measure your rib cage under your bust preferably with your stays and underpinnings on. This is the single most important measurement for this gown since the waistband has 1″ ease and is meant to fit snugly.

A simple dress modified to keep up with the fashions, this pattern includes instructions for an earlier 1790s gown as well as it’s current c. 1810 version modified from the original form. This is based on an extant gown in a private collection. In The Providence Gazette of 1800, “a Woman, who has been several Years delirious, escaped from her Father’s House . . .  She had on . . .  a short Calico loose Gown”.