Wearables 1860's inspired ball gown

For quite some time now I’ve had trouble finishing my projects. I’ve gotten halfway, lost momentum and then it just sits there. But this project has been different. For the first time I literally years I’ve managed to do the whole thing from start to finish without getting side tracked or loosing interest. And it has been a fun project to make every step of the way! Seriously, how often does that happen?

Ok, enough babbling, on to the actual project. The inspiration for this has been ball dresses in fashion plates from around 1860-1870.
Like these:
http://marquise.de/database/dbout.php?name=1866_2.jpg&lang=en&x=90&y=21
http://marquise.de/database/dbout.php?name=1866_5.jpg&lang=en&x=61&y=47

I have made no attempt at historical accuracy, though. While I am very interested in clothing history in general, this is not a main period of interest for me and for this project I wanted to do something just for fun.
This is how it turned out:

The material in the dress is the cheapest of cheap bed sheets (a cotton/polyester blend, I think) and some silver grey organza. The bodice have been reinforced with some fusible interfacing and lined with blue linen.The skirt and bodice are separate pieces so in theory (if I ever get the urge) I could make a bodice for something like a walking gown instead and not having to make a whole new skirt.
The dress itself is mainly sewn on machine but the flowers are made and sewn by hand.Detail of embroidery:

The roses are made out of satin ribbon, the round flowers are made out of a narrow organza ribbon and the daisies are “liberated” from a piece of lace. The leaves ar loops ov very narrow satin ribbons in two shades of green. There are a total of 19 roses, 19 daisies and 20 round flowers on the dress.

Additional fun fact: The skirt has a total of about 18 meters of scalloped hem!

I would love to have some critique on the dress (mainly on the design, but on the execution as well) and on the general look. Since this is not the period I usually work with I would love to know if anything seems off or if there is anything missing. Even if there is no attempt at making a strictly historical costume, I still would like to nail the general look.I am well aware that the photos aren’t the best but sewing and miniature making are my hobbies, photography is not, so please do your best to look past that.

Thank you for looking!

 

Yeah, you have a point there.
There are a few beads in the center of the flowers, but they are pretty discrete. I have several different types of beads in my stash that would look good, I think, but I have no idea what to do with them on this dress. Any ideas?
My knowledge of the use of beads in historical clothes ends about two hundred years before the era that inspired this dress and I don't know of any good places to look for inspiration that covers this era.

What do you think about adding a few tiny beads along the seam in the ruffles to ad a bit of sparkle without changeing the over all appearence?

 

Thank you very much!

Yep, that is the era I was going for. I think I have looked mainly at French sources, though, but I might be wrong. Do you know if the fashion differed much between America and Europe at that time?

 

Oh great!
Thank you!

 

Thank you, very much.

That's a good idea, I should look up those capes/coats... I think they are outerwear, for getting to and from the ball.
And perhaps some other accessories? I've been thinking of a fan and maybe some kind of hair ornament. Maybe some flowers like those on the dress, or something? The wig is not perfect for the era, but I've seen similar from the 1850's, so it will have to do for now. It's the closest I've got. I would love a bonnet too, but they are never worn with this type of dress as far as I can tell and mainly worn outdoors anyway. So that will have to wait until I make some other type of dress.

 

TheKidAbroad: Thank you very much!

saraquill: She wears a cage crinoline underneath. But it only has hoops in the lower part and you are right, the shape is a little bit off. It might be possible to add more hoops to get a more rounded shape. I'll look into it. Thank you for pointing it out, I would probably never have noticed it on my own.

 

You are right! They are very similar.

 

Thank you.
She doesn’t have a corset on. I omitted that to avoid bulk. Did you mean the bodice?
To me, a circle cut as opposed to this construction, is more a design element than a construction element and that shape and look was not really what I was going for.
I have not found anything that suggests circle construction on skirts from this period. Most seems to be made out of rectangles or gores. Do you have any sources I have missed?
I have looked mainly at reproductions of period patterns and at contemporary fashion plates. But this is not my main period to recreate clothes from, so i may very well have missed something obvious.

In other news:
I never got around to make her more accessories for this outfit, but I am currently making a dress based on the same style and era for one of my other dolls in the current "sewing project".

 

Thank you.

Yes. I've thought about it. I just can't figure out how to best attach them to the wig. I don't want to add them permanently.
Do you think magnets would work?