I found the image to the left on Pinterest ages ago and fell in love with the idea of an over-bodice made of ribbons. Eventually (read: accidentally) I discovered its source - the July 1808 edition of "Journal des Luxus und der Moden".
Now, admittedly, my white Regency dress is a few years earlier than 1808 (it's more 1800-1803-ish?) and the bodice as-pictured wouldn't suit the cut of my dress, but if I'm making it I can redesign it to suit my needs!
The Blue Ribbon Bodice
For my first ribbon bodice, I used 2" wide poly satin ribbon in a lovely shade of blue. To better suit my dress, I changed the shoulder straps to angle in and come to a point in the back, which imitated the narrow back of my dress bodice.
To start constructing it, I cut a piece of ribbon long enough to tie around the waist of my dress and leave long trailing ribbons. I found the center of the length and pinned it to the center back of my dress at the waistline. Then I pinned it again at the sides of the waist just where the drawstring ended.
After that, I approximated how long the shoulder strap needed to be and, through trial and error, figured out where they needed to be joined and at what angle to stay on my shoulders. Those got pinned onto the dress as well.
With those pieces pinned in place, I pinned on a ribbon to connect the two shoulder straps and a short ribbon connecting the center of the waist ribbon to the center of the shoulder-connecting ribbon.
I unpinned it all from the dress (making sure the ribbons were still pinned together), trimmed any excess ribbon, and pinned the raw edges of the ribbon under. That all got basted in place and I gave it one last try-on.
Once everything was finalized, I used a spaced backstitch and thread in a matching color to sew everything together. And then my first bodice was done!
Almost. I wanted to add two more short ribbons connecting the shoulder straps to the waistband, but I had to make sure I had ribbon enough to decorate the straw bonnet I'd be getting soon. The bonnet arrived a few days later and was decorated with enough ribbon to spare to finish my bodice. The last two straps were pinned, basted, and attached in the same manner as the rest. Then the bodice was fully complete.
The Red Ribbon Bodice
Why stop at one ribbon bodice when you can have two?
My second ribbon bodice was made of the same kind of 2" poly satin ribbon, but in a dark red, and I opted for a much simpler design.
I started this one the same as the other - a long ribbon sash marked at the center. The center got pinned to the center front this time, so it ties in the back. I then cut two lengths of ribbon for shoulder straps and pinned them where I wanted in the front.
The other end of the shoulder straps were pulled around to the back and clumsily pinned into place. The straps needed to be close enough to the back to keep from falling off, but still leave enough room to tie the waistband between them. It took a lot of pinning and re-pinning and trying on and taking off to get this part right, but once I was happy with the length and placement I was good to go.
Like with the first ribbon bodice, I did my best to tuck under any raw edges, and basted everything together before sewing it.
Final Thoughts
These two bodices took me just a few hours total to make, so they're a quick, simple way to expand your Regency wardrobe. I'm not sure how ""historically accurate"" they are, but they look nice and I'm content to settle for historically adequate.
I did this all on myself (by myself) and on my dress as it was either laid out or on a hanger. I feel like having a mannequin (or a trusted sewing helper) would have sped up the process a lot though, especially on the first bodice, where I was pinning on the back a lot. There was a lot of taking off the dress and putting it back on.
But they really were a fun, quick, simple project, and I'd love to see other people's takes on the idea.
I've got an upcoming post on decorating a straw bonnet to match these bodices coming, and then it's the final installment of my 1890s corset, so you'll hear from me again soon!
Stay warm. Stay safe. Stay healthy.
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