CORSET: My original plan involved making my own corset but after several failed fitting attempts using my first corset pattern, enlarged from a pattern in Norah Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines, which was ultimately taken from an 1844 German magazine (right). I decided that my time was worth more than the money it would cost to buy a corset. So I decided to buy a corset from Gallery Serpentine as I had heard good reviews from other costumers and to my knowledge they were the only company that made Victorian style corsets in Australia (after I had placed my order I was pointed to a couple of other resources, but by then it was too late and it would have been more expensive to go elsewhere).

CHEMISE and DRAWERS: I also drafted a pattern for a pair of drawers using Elizabeth Stewart Clark's instructions and a chemise based on several mid 19^th century chemises on the MFA website like the one to the left. I also used Simplicity 7215 as a base but because the chemise was so simple I just looked at the shape of the pattern in the cutting diagrams and drafted my own without unfolding the tissue paper. Both the chemise and drawers were made from cotton lawn.

CORDED PETTICOAT: I chose the mid 1850s specifically so I could use a corded pettcoat instead of a steel boned crinoline. I took the basic instructions that Elizabeth Stewart Clark had posted to Reenactment Ladies plus the 'Recipe for a Corded Petticoat' at the Elizabethan Costuming Page and combined them with a little experimentation to create my own method.