I do not do men’s garments after 1800. But some people are very persuasive ( or simply very stubborn)…
In this case one of my existing customers ( I made a whole set of Regency wardrobe for his lovely lady last winter) managed to persuade me that I wanted nothing more than to make his new gear. A consensus was made, I gave under pressure and agreed to making shirts, waistcoats and the blingy coat, but drew a line at pantaloons. I shouldn’t have bothered at that line as it later turned out that since another tailor was a bit behind and wouldn’t be able to do the pantaloons – and so I ended up making 2 pairs of the trousers. And a nice redingote for the lady…
The inspiration was the dress jacket from the National Army Museum
Over July measurements were made, toiles were fitted and all the ingredients were assembled – and there was a lot to assemble!
The cloth ( broadcloth) came from Historical Textiles, silly amount of military lace and braid from Hand&Lock, and some more braid and buttons were provided by the customer.
I started with the waistcoat….
Time for the jacket….

the innards showing the stitches – the braid was attached with a strong linen thread. The whole jacket was later lined in red light woolen cloth ( shalloon)
the pantaloons were next – and they worked surprisingly well! 2 pairs were maid, one on navy broadcloth, one in white one…
The whole set was worn at Bath during the Jane Austen festival – and as we were there for the Ball, Lucas took some pictures of it all being worn together:-)
and chatting with the ladies….
and if you are wondering about the prices…
well, the blingy bits ( lace, braids, buttons) were well over £200,
fabric – broadcloth is at around £50 a metre ( and worth every penny!) – 6m were used.
1m of shallon for jacket lining, – £21
shirts, lining and neckclothes – linen – 3m – £26
calico for toiles and interlining – £10
altogether the materials cost more or less around £400
Labour for it all – roughly £1000….. it took altogether about 60 hours to complete….more or less.
Not a cheap set – and obviously the accessories were of fantastic quality and also , I imagine, rather dear. But gosh, doesn’t it all look fantastic! 🙂
And surprisingly – I really enjoyed making it, so watch this space, I don’t think it is the end of military bling for me!
May 2015 update – and indeed it wasn’t….. since then I have made a corsetted waistcoat and another set of a waistcoat and dolman, even blingier than this one:-)
Credits
Cloth and help with patterning – Sean Phillips from Historical Textiles
Military lace:Hand&Lock
braid and buttons and the barrel sash:Stitch in Time
leatherwork – Peter Stroud – Menagerie Leatherwork
Photography – Pitcheresque Imagery
and all of this has been brought together by Prior Attire