Catherine the Great - Riding Habit

Here is my view of the "Russia and Catherine the Great" theme for Venice Carnival 2013.


I was looking for some uniform style, as I know that Catherine the Great loved this kind of dresses.
I found a "Catherine II's Uniform Dress Modelled after the Uniform of the Life-Guards Cavalry Regiment" picture on the State Hermitage Museum website.

Catherine II's uniform from the "State Hermitage Museum"

I really like : - the blue and red blending - the golden ribbons ornements - the colar

I dislike : - the length of the waistcoat - the overdress (on the right picture)

I found the perfect matching color for the skirt, and 2 different shades of blue for the waiscoat :
- a coton steel blue (??) fabric (on the left)
- a watered dark blue fabric (Prussian blue I guess) , used on the wrong side (on the right)

The watered fabric should have been the main fabric and the coton, the lining.

But after I've sewn the waistcoat bodice in both fabrics, I finaly decided to switch.

After searching for hours at the flea market, I found a beautiful golden metallic ribbon and I tried differents patterns to match the quantity I bought (How mindless I was to bought only 5 meters... :x)










Nevertheless, I had a big problem with the skirt pattern. I don't know why I didn't make it with the pattern I usually use. The (bad) result is : the skirt is too short on the back (really !! the petticoat is visible) and the front pleats don't fall gracefully :/

Here, a picture from Venice to show you the completed project :

 





The beautiful lace jabot was made by Evelyne Bouchard (her blog in french : http://evelynebouchard.e-monsite.com)


You will find more pictures here : Clic !