American Revolutionary War Period

Outer Garments

1760s Chintz jacket, 2015
Pins closed. The body is entirely fitted with stitched-down pleats which release into the skirt. The slightly roomy sleeves and slightly longish skirt send this a bit earlier than 1770, at least that was the idea. The style lines of it are just a tiny bit off for some reason, not quite historically right.
It's made of a JoAnns upholstery print which pretends to be period quite nicely - I'm not sure if it's supposed to do that.
1770s Printed jacket, 2011
My first shortgown, originally made with cut-on sleeves, but then made over several times with pleating for shape. Pins shut. The print is not at all correct, and the trim is dubious as well - it's a self-fabric ruffle, but out of a contrasting print. Oh, and the colors have bled a little under the arms! I rarely use this anymore.
Mid 18th century bedgown, 2013
My first of the style. Pins or merely overlaps closed. Made of two pillowcases! T-shaped with cut-on sleeves, with the excess from cutting the sleeve pleated in under the arm. The cuffs are applied to the outside rather than integral. I still like this garment - it does its job well - even if I am a bit unsure about the historicity of the print and pattern.
1760s brown sateen gown, 2018
A round gown a la Anglaise with matching stomacher. The stomacher pins to the stays, and then then the dress pins over that, with the pins under the front robings. I originally made this to wear to a fancy dress ball - I decorated it fancifully with a pleated blue trim to represent the Neva river delta, with pins depicting St Petersburg landmarks (because the ball had a russian theme). Now I've removed that original trimming, and I get a much more plausible middle-class sort of dress. The fabric choice is a little funny, but I had a whole sheet set, which lent itself well to the en forreau back construction. The edges of the robings aren't super crisp due to the fabric weave but it's bearable. I think this'll look cute with different stomachers in it.

Shapewear

1770s blue and white stays, 2011
My first pair of stays. Boned with plastic boning.
These were patterned off some belonging to a theater friend, which I think were themselves based on some commercial pattern. A lot of alterations were needed, since said friend is shorter and bustier than I. The original stays had straps as well, which I find unnecessary in the interpretations I do. In spite of many alterations, these stays just don't fit because the bust-waist ratio is too extreme for my cylindrical figure. Also they're somehow too long, so they can dig under the arms.
mid-18th century brown linen stays, 2015
Boned with zip ties. I made these to replace my first stays, when they became really too unbearable. I was at the time a bit bigger in the waist, but these were far too big even to begin with. I took them in with tucks between the bones in back, and then took them in even further in the waist to fit one of my reenacting friends. At present they're still at that more extreme bust-waist ratio, and don't fit me.
mid 18th century tan stays, 2016
Boned with zip ties.
I've taken them in, with tucks in back between the bones, because I managed to get them just a touch too big.
These are my absolute favorite stays. They're nice and stiff but have a low enough neck to keep arm movement easy and comfortable.
Jumps, 2016
I made these experimentally, of upholstery matelasse with two layers of thick fabric interlining. I don't think they're particularly successful (though they are cute). The waist is a bit high, even after lowering it by stitching the tabs together at the top. More importantly, they're quite stiff and bulky, with sub-par shaping. These wouldn't work to wear under any of my historical garb. I think they need to have more tabs, and a bit more shaping, since I'm really not quite as cylindrical as all that. You can see stress wrinkles at the waistline due to the very rectangular four-piece construction.

Accessories

I wear aprons and fichus with my 1770s ensembles most of the time. Check out my apron collection over on the 1860s page - I make all my aprons with bibs, which I can wear folded down in 1770s and opened up in other periods, depending on the fashion. My fichus are just big ol triangles of linen - maybe I'll add pictures of those some time, but they're pretty boring.

Headwear

mid 18th century caps, 2011-2018
I like a nice modest cap so I've got lots! From my first cap from when I had short hair, to the funny shaped one that I decorated to go with a 1760s ball ensemble. All of these have a round gathered crown, a band, and a shaped ruffle framing the face. My face ruffles are usually 1.5 inch in the front with a central box pleat, tapering to nothing or nearly nothing at the nape of the neck.
Good caps are so great because they hide every hairstyle sin, or in the case of these pictures, a hair humidity party. I usually err on the side of too big, since too small looks really weird. I tried something different with my cap for the ball, darting the crown so the cap comes to a kind of point in the front (based on 1760s images), but I think it was a touch small to start out with, so it tried real hard to slide back.
1770s Bergere, 2011/2016
This hat was originally made for my first reenactments ever at my town's one historic house. The brim was of fabric-covered cardboard and the crown was a bit of fabric stitched on top. Then I revamped it and completely remade the hat base out of buckram and a good deal of wire to keep it in shape. The overall look of the hat has changed little. One ribbon ties around under the hair to secure the hat, while a second decorative ribbon ties under the chin to give the brim a fashionable curve.
1750s Bergere, 2013/2016
I made this bergere from a craft store hat that was intended to be used to make those weird hats that people hang on doors for decoration. I shortened the crown by half and added trim. This was my replacement for the First Bergere because in its original incarnation the FB was not very stiff and I wanted a much stiffer hat. The first iteration of the Second Bergere was used for parts for a commission in 2015, and could not be remade until the "summer craft supplies" came in to the craft store and the basic hats returned. It ties on with small ties under the back of the head, and has the brim stick straight out instead of curving.