I (Re) Made a Historically Accurate 18th Century American Girl Felicity Dress for Me!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ธ.ค. 2020
- American Girl dolls were a huge influence on me as a girl growing up in the 90s, and I credit them with encouraging my love of history and leading me to my current profession. While I didn’t feel a connection with one character in particular, I did think Felicity had the best wardrobe of all the dolls. Her blue Christmas gown has been a dream dress of mine since I was little and I finally made my own historically accurate version in 2015 entirely by hand. I loved and wore that gown a lot over the past five years, but so much can change in that time. The gown no longer fit and it wasn’t a good representation of my skills and knowledge of 18th century mantua making (dressmaking). So I decided to give the gown a complete makeover and convert it from a sacque gown (robe a la francaise) to an English gown (robe a l’anglaise or en fourreau). I’m thrilled with how it turned out and I hope you enjoy seeing the process. I’ll also show you all the layers involved in wearing the gown, from shift, stays (corset), and hoops, to stomacher and cap. Plus I’ll do a little myth busting about the big historical inaccuracy in “Felicity’s Surprise.”
Slavery and Felicity:
Cait at Willoughby and Rose: • Historian Discusses Fe...
American Girls Podcast:
www.americangirlspod.com/
Not Your Momma’s History with Cheyney McKnight
/ @notyourmommashistory
Facebook- / 300919986774827
Twitter- @MommasHistory
Instagram- NotYourMommasHistory
Images:
Sack back gown: www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
English gown:
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
Detail from Mr. and Mrs Ralph Izard by John Singleton Copley
collections.mfa.org/objects/3...
Portrait of a Noblewoman by Donat Nonotte:
siftingthepast.com/2012/10/23/...
Lace cap with lappets:
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
Portrait of Sir Edward Walpole’s Children by Stephen Slaughter:
collections.artsmia.org/art/1...
Trade card: www.britishmuseum.org/collect...
Domestick Amusement:
www.britishmuseum.org/collect...
A lady seated by a window: www.rct.uk/collection/914380/...
The Rival Milleners:
emuseum.history.org/objects/1...
Cultivating Tobacco, Virginia, 1798:
www.slaveryimages.org/s/slaver...
Music and Dance in Beaufort County:
emuseum.history.org/objects/5...
Music from EpidemicSound
I used to pore over the American Girl catalogue when it showed up in the mail. I eventually saved up enough money for a doll and bought then-recently released Josefina, but Felicity was always a close second for characters and dolls that I liked. I recently found a Felicity who needs all her limbs restrung at the thrift store and brought her home to fix, and after that I plan to do some 1700s outfits for her.
When I was a kid, my grandmother made a simplified version of Felicity's blue dress. I loved it so much!
I'm so glad you talked about the darker side of Felicity's apathy; one thing that always struck me was that in the accompanying historical book, they had a brief story about Thomas Jefferson and how he promised his wife he would never remarry on her deathbed.
This seems sweet... until you learn about Sally Hemming's, Jefferson's slave and "mistress" who was his dead wife's half-sister and was the same age as his daughter.
I didn't know about the 'Martha and Sally were half-sisters' thing, and it somehow makes the whole thing worse. Idk if Martha saw Sally as an actual sister, but still.
@@alexismontez4230 Probably not since Sally was closer in age to her daughters than to Martha. She was apparently close to her nieces since they secured her freedom.
To make it worse, Sally's mom was a victim of the same thing Sally underwent. (Her mom was a victim of enslaved r*pe and thus the favorite of Martha's father). His wife was also his cousin. (Sally could have been spared that because it could've been through her mother's connections)
When I was 11 I went to Williamsburg for the first time because they had the “Felicity in Williamsburg” package, which was honestly pretty basic, but I do remember one thing that was included was tea with Miss Manderly. I already knew how to sew at that point, but it was visiting Williamsburg that showed me that combining sewing and history was a legit thing to do, and absolutely had a big impact on the course of my life.
Makes me think of The Simpsons episode where Marge keeps masterfully sewing and resewing the pink and black Chanel dress into different dresses
I love that you kept the Robin's unattached. It is nice to have a little bit of wiggle room if you gain/lose weight.
I didn't have Felicity (I had Kirsten and Josefina) but I was always fascinated by her outfits--in particular the entire concept of the stomacher and pinning into your clothes seemed very strange and ancient compared to the 19th century girls whose clothes were buttoned up.
Also, thanks for your discussion of the problematic elements of the Felicity stories. I was reading the Addie stories around the same time and even though it didn't dwell on aspects of slavery that would be difficult for young children to understand, from what I recall it wasn't a bad master but the institution of slavery that they ran away from and the stories critiqued. Though my mom always said, of course Addie's mom had to be a dressmaker or she wouldn't have had enough outfits--she also joked that that was why almost all the American Girls were from rich families, because what nine-year-old before mass fashion would have had six whole outfits including a special Christmas dress? And they were usually six really nice outfits, not just one for best.
Same thing my mother said! Have 4 dolls including Felicity.
The Christmas gown was always my favorite in the catalogue, I think the concept of a stomacher blew my preteen mind. Beautiful interpretation and Great idea conserving the silk for the visible parts. ❤❤❤
I got a Felicity doll when I was about 10 (although it was impressed upon me how precious she was and how much I needed to take care of her), and a couple of her accessory sets and clothes. As an adult, I decided I wanted to collect all of her things that I never got as a child, so I’ve spent some time getting almost every little piece! All I have left are some of her furniture pieces and carriage. I would just ADORE to have a Felicity dress for myself, though, goals!!!
I love your version of her gown in both its iterations! I'm slowly working on my version right now and had been planning on making it a sacque because I haven't made one yet either, but wow I really love it as an English gown too so I'm a bit torn! I also fully credit Felicity and American Girl with my love of historical fashion and I'm glad we can have these conversations about the issues with the series while still appreciating what it has done for our hobby.
You can always start with a sacque and then remake it in the future as an English gown!
In the late 80s and early 90s, I was ob-SESSED with Williamsburg history because I lived nearby. (You can't go to school around here and NOT go on yearly field trips to Williamsburg-Yorktown-Jamestown.) When Felicity was introduced, my mom saved and saved to get the doll and the first three outfits for me. I'm in my 40s, and I still cherish them! LOVE your gown -- both versions! You've inspired me to FINALLY make a me-sized short gown and petticoat (the school outfit was always my favorite).
I remember my mother reading us the books growing up during bedtime, primarily to my sister. I don't think she really got too deep into the franchise (AFIR, she never owned any of the dolls, probably because of how expensive they were and still are), but she was into it during my family's one and only trip to CW. However, I will forever remember that trip for a not-so-pleasant reason - my mom getting REALLY sick from a muffin at Raleigh Tavern.
Still, I really have to admire the workmanship that went into the gown; it is absolutely stunning! Very interesting retrospective at the end, too.
I have seen the American Girl dolls in catalogues but never bought or received one as a gift. Off topic, loved the kitty photobomb while you were showing the layers.
have you watched the movie version? they change her Christmas gown quite a bit (hopefully more accurate) and her clothing is even more beautiful brought to life on screen.
I never had an AG doll growing up either, but oh how I wanted one! My husband bought me my first AG doll a few years ago, and now I'm making her a wardrobe fit for a doll queen! I just came across a pattern for Felicity's dress the other day, which will be my next project for her. Love how you brought it to life!
I read the books and my mom sewed the blue Christmas gown for me to wear to an American Girl club party at my library. I wore that dress so much over the years.
I loooved pouring through those magazines too! The books were my life. I even got the PC game American Girl Premiere and spent hours making plays. That game was the best haha
I’m an older generation, and for me, it was the historical fiction that I read as a younger child that introduced me to history, a lifelong love.
Same here. I grew up reading the Little House series, Young Pioneers (written by Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane), Calico Bush, Caddie Woodlawn, etc., and then when I was in my mid 20s found the Royal Diaries and Dear America series of books and binged them, too. I also read Jane Eyre when I was eight (and about 60 times since then). History is fascinating and beautiful and tragic and so important. I'm so glad for channels like this one, Bernadette Banner, Abby Cox, Karolina Zebrowska, Not Your Momma's History, Morgan Donner, etc., etc.. They breath history to life in a way so far beyond what reading about it on a page does.
My favorite wardrobe was Samantha's. I favored that era for a long time. Molly was my second fav. Her stories were a lot of fun to read.
I was obsessed with my American girl dolls ESPECIALLY the clothes. I almost sold them last year then I fell in love again ❤️
Josefina was always my absolute favorite (and the only historical doll I owned), but the whole American Girl series definitely got me into history. I loved how it focused on the way people really lived and the issues they faced, rather than the broad overview of things we got in school at that age.
Pulling apart a dress for the valuable fabric that still had wear in it and matching the fabric with new to make additions and alterations is EXTREMELY period-correct. I read about that in contemporary fiction and in modern historical fiction. "Twice-turned" clothes were garments that had been pulled apart once, remade, worn and then pulled apart again to get the last possible wear out of the fabric. I got into historical costuming back in 1976 in elementary school when we did "Johnny Tremaine" as the school play. My older sister, who played Cilla and I who played the maid at the tavern, had dresses made that approximated 18th century styles. My mother had a friend who loved to make little girl's clothing, but who only had boys. She and my mom bartered and the lady made special dresses for us. Mine was navy blue too! I wore it until I finally outgrew it. I know that my mom kept those dresses for years. I think that mine was eventually given away to another child years later - also period-correct!
Probably my favorite dress they ever made! I got it for my Samantha doll, and she still wears it every Christmas. Someday, one will come for me :-)
Love it! Felicity is one of the reasons why I started loving History and colonial America; years laters I received my BA History. Her wardrobe has alway been one of my favorites especially the blue Christmas dress! I am not an expert on Historical Fashion nor am I a perfect seamstress but this and her greeting dress are on my to make list! While it won't be Historically accurate my dream of owning those gowns will come true. :)
I would love to make Felicity's dress someday. I've seen this dress floating around Pinterest at one point or another and seeing you make her dress in life size is just fabulous! You're like a life size Felicity in that outfit and I love that dress
This video inspired me to sew a historically accurate Samantha Edwardian outfit. I can’t wait to get started on that project!
I was given an American Girl doll for my birthday and I’m 45. I had arranged for my dad to buy one for my mom long ago. Making doll clothing is so much fun and now I have a doll of my own to dress. American Girl dolls have inspired many girls to get into history. I was too old and was of the age selling the dolls, as their call center was in my city. I’m fortunate to have nieces that I’ve been able to dress their dolls.
When you can’t afford to make a gown for yourself, dress your doll!
When I was a small child, my mom made me a Christmas gown to match with Felicities. It wasn’t anything fancy, but I loved it and it had such good memories surrounding it and this video reminded me of that.
I got Kirstin for my thirteenth birthday and my grandmother made me a dress of her own design for the doll. I don’t have the doll. But I do have that baby doll dress.
Spectacular! Like you, Felicity was my favorite (and particularly this blue gown was my favorite of hers!) but I never had an American Girl doll either. I did have her paper doll though.
I used to smile at the pictures (I still do to this day) but growing up I wasn't a doll girl, but now? I have Emilie (I named her) my Danbury Mint Porceline doll; in her beautiful bridal gown; I hope to get an American Girl doll some day
I love Felicity. She started my love of colonial fashion. I’m making my own blue sacque back from the AD pattern and I’m so excited!
Thank you fornshowing the underlayers. I wondered what skirt support you had and i super hope we see a trend of ultra fashionable English gowns in the near future 😍
I had Kirsten but I think Felicity's holiday dress is one of the most beautiful American Girl dresses! So happy you took on this project!
My Samantha doll is one of my greatest treasures. Love this video!
I've always loved your version of this gown but I think the re-make is extra awesome and really demonstrates the spirit of how our ancestors used and updated their clothing!
It's really fun, too! I'm planning to "update" a 1780s gown to the 1790s someday!
OMG I had that doll growing up. And the books. And the nightie to pair with Felicity lol.
The books were awesome. (Addy, Kaya, and Samantha were all I had but it was awesome!) I never owned any of the dolls
OH. MY. GOSH. I'm in love with this. Felicity IS my favorite American Girl. She's currently sitting in my closet with this gown on. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!! TY, for recreating this.
I was obsessed with American girl dolls when I was a kid! I really wanted felicity because I liked her dress, but I ended up getting Julie because I wanted a doll that looked more like me. I’m so glad you made this video! I relived some of my childhood seeing this
I am 30 ,and I still have my Felicity doll . She hangs out in my room in a dolls schoolroom chair .
Omg do her whole collection please Felicity was my favorite and her style is 🔥🔥
When I saw this video I screamed in excitement!
I love felicity she is my favorite American girl doll.
And the blue dress you made is absolutely stunning! Well done!
This video made my whole week!
thank you! I'm so glad to hear that!
I love this. I still have my original Pleasant Company Felicity and Kirsten dolls
Just picked up more materials so I can FINALLY finish my undergarments to start my own Felicity collection.
I remember checking out all the American girl books from my school library over and over again. Some of the first stories I ever wrote were based on the American Girl series. While I would consider Molly or Kit as my all time favorite Felicity had the best fashion. Thank you so much for the nostalgia, I have the sudden urge to read the original series all over again at 23 😊🖤.
That Felicity dress is what got me into historical fashion. I still love it 20 years later.
Such a exquisite gown. Lovely work, and I love that you were able to update your old gown!
Fantastic, you possess great skill!
I have loved seeing this dress on Instagram, and the final remake is beautiful!
This is adorable! Well done!
Your really can carry off any era. Wonderful videos. Thank you x
I love this!! It makes me so happy to see you remake such an iconic dress and to hear a bit more about the history that they didn't quite get right. Super cool.
The gowns are both beautiful.
Congratulations on forging ahead with the remodel! What a fantastic job of sewing you do.
This was such a great walk down memory lane & I really appreciate you addressing some of the problematic themes we needed to address with the stories. Your remake on this dress is epic
Thank you so much for showing the basic process of putting together a gown! I had so many lightbulb moments watching this!
Your video is wonderful! So glad I found your channel! Cute kitty & baby Yoda!
So excited you have a youtube channel! I've been following your work on social media for a while and it's really informative watching you sew
I like the fact that you hand sew everything no short cuts.
Those glasses are amazing, as is your video! ❤
Thank you for sharing this with us.
Girl, same! I loved the dolls and always wanted one with the matching outfits but it was too expensive. I’m in my 30’s now and with Covid/quarantine I’ve been spending my money on dream clothes since I’m not going anywhere and working from home. I’m normally way to practical to do something like this but it has been fun supporting clothing makers and playing dress up. I’m still working on base layers though.
So pretty!
Felicity absolutely had the best wardrobe! I think the blue Christmas gown and the green riding habit were the stuff of ALL of our dreams.
I loved seeing the transition from saque back to fitted gown, too! Even though I did love it as a saque back, I think it's even more perfect now. And thank you for showing us all the layers underneath!
Hopefully I'll get to the riding habit sooner than later! I bought the wool last year!
I’m not an American Girl fan nor do I like dolls but I love American history and period fashion. I found the Felicity video on You Tube a couple of years ago and I really enjoy watching it. The blue dress was stunning and your recreation of it is masterful. Thanks for doing these videos.
Love this!
Loved this video! I'm sure it's a lot of work to document the construction process, but I'd love to see more details.
I have such fond memories of reading and adoring the books and dolls, even though I was never fortunate enough to own one myself, and I did own a lot of the books. Josefina, oddly, was my particular favorite but I really did take a liking to all of them equally, and I like to think they kickstarted my love of history and historical fashion
I loved Josefina too! I actually had the girl’s version of her “Meet Josefina” outfit!
Thank you for sharing you remaking of the dress. I prefer the English style. And this looks lovely. I decided to subscribed and look forward to your next video.
I love this so much! I was desperate for high buttoned boots like Samantha.
Thank you for such an informative video!
I had this doll as a kid and I LOVED this blue gown, it was my absolute favorite. I had two dolls and a few additional outfits but this is the only one I remember. You basically made my childhood fantasy
Looks beautiful i prefer the lace stomacher just perfect
Oh Lord I love this! Felicity was my favorite!
Ivr just found you and your channel. Handstitched ??? Woahhhh!
Good job!
Wonderful video! Thank you for the shout out!❤️
I did not remember until this moment how much I wanted this blue dress as a kid. I had Felicity's books and such, though I had a knockoff doll. Thank you for making a dream real!
(brb googling cobalt blue taffeta)
You're so skilled! Both versions of the dress are lovely. Thank you for bringing to the attention of your viewers how slavery was glossed over in the series, I always got frustrated how she frees 'Penny the horse' but was blind to those around her. My heart pined for Felicity and all her pretty things when I was growing up. I've credited my love of costume history and sewing with AG's (or Pleasant Company as I knew them) influential pull. I'm just learning Georgian sewing as my path lead me to bustles and puffs originally.
I always adored that blue felicity dress
That's a nice black and gold dress
Just wow!
This is literally my childhood dreams come true.
I my American girl doll for my 23 birthday!!! 😂 After a lifetime of wanting one!
Yay!
I never liked these dolls but I know many who did. Your dress is lovely!
Bringing back my childhood life in order...
Thank you for making this video. I deeply and wholeheartedly appreciate not only the level of detail you put into the dress, but also your work in correcting the skewed narrative of slavery we’ve heard since LITERAL childhood. I’m happy to enjoy the nostalgia of AGD once again!!
Thank you! It's so important to look critically at the things we love and enjoy.
Seeing Felicity siting next to Baby Yoda is conjuring up a lot of weird images
i love this, but your voiceover is way louder than the in person interview style which made it difficult to watch while sewing as i was constantly adjusting the volume so i could hear but not deafen myself randomly
will you be doing any more projects on historical american girl accuracy? i find the subject fascinating but unfortunately i find doing research incredibly difficult and frustrating 😔
Do you mean historical accuracy of the clothing or the stories?
@@TheCoutureCourtesan the clothing in particular, but im interested in the accuracy of the stories as well!
@@coolthinghere6853 I believe Addy’s story can be considered historically accurate because she had an advisory board of professionals in the subject matter and time period.
I would love to see a video on Josefina's Christmas dress! I had her as a child and that was my favorite outfit of hers. I never got it for my doll but I loved seeing the one my cousin had.
i have 6 of american girls dolls and Felicity and addy are my favorite i also grew up in 90s i also had barbie american stories was native american and 1700s barnie and 1800s barbie i have red head Pioneer barbie
Addy is one of my favorites too! I also liked Kit. The historical dolls are the best!
Sometimes I see people get upset about the low necklines in some 18th century gowns young women and girls wore. That's silly because that's literally what they'd wear sometimes.
Yeah, but they always wore them with some kind of kerchief/fichu over top. You'd only see it without in evening gowns.
I kind of like the idea of Felicity's mother being a mantua maker before marriage. Maybe she broke her apprenticeship to get married.
MY NAME IS FELICITY AND I SEW HISTORICALLY ACCURATE CLOTHES WHAT A COINCIDENCE
I'm a sucker for the outfit described in the poem The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe, but the description and materials along with my loose knowledge of sumptuary laws leave me confused as to what class you would have to be to wear this? Do you know?
I’m very curious about the first petticoat being under the stays. Is there any particular reason for that? It’s a lovely video! I learned a ton! 💙
To cut down on bulk at the waist!
Thank you! Wearing the under-petticoat worn under the stays is something that you see in images from the 18th century, so that seems to be the most common order.
So why were hoops popular in the 18th century? Like 1880s bustles developed by hiking up to skirts. Why did the hoops develop. Samantha is my favorite and I got her for Christmas when I was in elementary school.
Is it in poor taste to express appreciation for how the petticoat causes the woman's bust to be uplifted and to swell with each breath? I can only imagine the tension between the lovers as they approach one another out of sight of others, as the woman feels the breath and the eyes of the man on her chest just as her breaths become more shallow, and more rapid making it seem as if her heart quite literally fluttered.
This work of art is absolutely marvelous and your skill and devotion to the labor that it requires is inspiring. I've noticed the bundle of arrows by the fireplace. Pray tell you don't also produce implements of war and hunting?
Yeah. What modern people seem to forget about this type of clothing is that it could be extremely sexy. People were trying to look their best without looking like they were trying too hard, just like we do now.
Omg I have been looking for a pattern of this for my girls. 😭 does anyone have and good leads??
What 's the music that plays at 1:57?