Brontë Beginnings

I have a hankering to recreate Charlotte Brontë’s going-away dress, c. 1854. Specifically to wear at Costume College in 2015, since the theme will be “Plucked From the Pages,” aka books and literary characters.  I have a pattern (really just a scaled diagram) taken from the actual dress that is at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth. I bought it during my very first trip to the U.K. in 1992 (tho’ I lost it somewhere in a move and had to re-buy it online later).

The dress itself was worn when Charlotte embarked on her honeymoon tour with her new husband, Arthur Bell Nicholls (originally her father’s curate), in June 1854. The couple traveled to Kilkee, County Clare, Ireland, where Nicholls had family. Charlotte soon became pregnant but died, along with her unborn child, on March 31, 1855, of either tuberculosis (listed on the death certificate), typhoid (going around the Brontë household at the time), or maybe side-effects of extreme morning sickness. No-one is sure.

This will be the most butter-churny dress I may ever make, but whoa, it’s a surviving outfit from one of my very most favourite authors in history of the world! That’s a major fandom win. It also has an enjoyable gothy feel to it, both because it’s Brontë and because it was worn right after her wedding and so close to her death. And it’s just dark, yay.

Here is the museum database‘s description of Charlotte Brontë’s going-away gown:

Finely stripped shot silk with silvered background and dark mauve (originally lavender) stripes, composed of three diagonal deep pleats, extending across each front, with the outer pleat extending over the shoulder and disappearing into the shoulder seam, the bodice fastens down the centre front with fourteen metal hooks and eyes and is fully lined in cotton, seams are piped with matching fabric, the sleeves are very large being pleated into the armhole and pleated at the cuff, each sleeve is fully lined in cotton and fastens at the cuff with a hood and hand-made loop, with the cuff being trimmed in velvet, the neckline has a small, stand-up, straight collar, trimmed with a velvet band and silk fringing, the waist of the bodice is formed into small triangles, lined in cream silk fabric and trimmed with matching silk 10 pointed zig-zag fringing; Said to have been Charlotte’s ‘going away’ (honeymoon) dress; complete; fair condition; bust 900mm; neck to waist 410mm, underarm sleeve 470mm, widest sleeve round 480mm.

I scoured the database and came up with an image (below) of this and another of Charlotte Brontë’s gowns being worn at some point in the past: “printed page 22 showing two b/w images of a model wearing {103} pink frock and cape worn by Charlotte Bronte and {104} silk dress worn on her wedding tour by Charlotte Brontë.” Not sure if the ‘pink frock’ is still held by the museum though. By the way, the database doesn’t generate permalinks, so I can’t link directly to these items, otherwise, I would. I’ve also tried to brighten/sharpen images where possible.

There’s also a corset possibly of Charlotte’s in the museum. No detailed provenance is given, but the style does appear to be right for the late 1840s/early 1850s, so I could base mine on this, if I want. The description is given as: “whalebone corset which may have been worn by Charlotte Brontë. 15 eyelet holes down back, 2 at front, buttoned shoulder straps, discoloured, metal plate and some whale bones are exposed; incomplete, no strings.” I do despise making corsets though, so I might punt and buy a standard-issue Victorian corset. I don’t have one currently, and there are decent places where I could acquire said item.

Corset possibly worn by Charlotte Brontë, image from The Brontë Society Collections

One of Charlotte Brontë’s handkerchiefs, image from The Brontë Society Collections

Pendant inscribed “Charlotte Brontë” on the back, image from The Brontë Society Collections

A shawl owned by Charlotte Brontë, image from The Brontë Society Collections

Two of Charlotte Brontë’s gowns being modeled, image from The Brontë Society Collections

Charlotte Brontë’s going-away dress, image from The Brontë Society Collectionsë

The museum database has a lot of little clothing ephemera left from the Brontës that could help me accessorize this outfit, such as stockings (“stocking, silk, black, ribbed, repaired at toe, worn by Charlotte Brontë”), several shawls (I like this one best: “red shawl; large; fringed all round; cotton; silk; pattern of flower sprays large and small in alternating lines; red, pink, green, blue, yellow”), a few handkerchiefs (my fave: “silk, black and white, square check pattern, long knotted tassle fringe”), and bits of jewelry (such as: “oval, hinged front with pressed design indicating a flower head & engraved leaves around the edge & in the centre. Tear-drop link to hold chain (missing). Back engraved ‘Charlotte Brontë'”). You know how much I love accessorizing! That part will be fun. A little of this and that, have to make sure and leave enough time for it.

While I do love geeking out on the historical accuracy of it all, I’m already taking shortcuts. I bought 5 yards of silver-grey silk taffeta for this gown, both because I like the color and because I had a gift certificate for Renaissance Fabrics (thanks, Noel!). The silver-grey color is evocative enough of the original gown’s ‘silvered mauve’ to my mind. The ‘velvet band’ trim is described in several other places (including the pattern notes) as being brown, and I may use dark purple. The ‘silk fringing’ is described as gold, but I may use silver. And I doubt I’ll line it in silk because that’s more expensive and less comfortable; linen or cotton are my preferred linings. I’ll pipe the damn thing, but sure as hell I’m sewing as much on the machine as possible, not hand-sewn because I don’t need to!

Related Links:

• The Brontë Society Collections — Database of The Brontë Society and Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, U.K. This is where most of my images on this page come from. An excellent resource, and if you’re in the north of England, do visit the museum itself.
• The Brontës Undressed — Or really, the Brontës Dressed! This interesting blog from a historical interpreter at Haworth discusses what the different Brontë sisters wore and how she chose to recreate several gowns for her work giving talks on Victorian literature and life. See also her page on Charlotte Brontë’s Wardrobe Unlocke’d and an in-depth look at Charlotte’s corset.
• Haworth and Yorkshire Photos — Atmospheric images of the Bronte Parsonage Museum, church, cemetery, and countryside from my most recent visit in 2010.