My favorite mantua

I loved seeing The Modern Mantua Maker's gorgeous mantua this summer at Costume College and then recently I saw the movie The Favorite  - and it was all over.  I officially have mantua madness!


Specifically I really really want a black and white one a la the movie.  So, I got out all my costume books and all my black and white fabric and trim together and started pondering.

After looking through all my books I found 5 that had information on mantua construction.
There are scaled patterns for mantuas in these books:

The Cut of Women's Clothes 
Patterns of Fashion 1
The Evolution of Fashion
Period Costume from Stage and Screen

And there are draping instructions for a mantua in Draping Period Patterns.


The Evolution of Fashion also has two different patterns for fontanges, the crazy towering cap they wore.  One that is basically an oversized cap and another that is a cap with lappets and a very tall fontange.  From the Neck Up also has a fontange pattern but it is very simple, basically just a cap.

I also discovered I had a whole lot of black and white lace and ribbons, some pieces of black taffeta and white organza and a really awesome black and white striped silk taffeta in the stash.  Long ago I'd wanted to make a repro of the black and white striped dress from Sleepy Hollow, but that desire faded and I think it will be perfect for this project!

Next up, my fontange experiments...

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