18th Century Costume Buy
Outfit your family in eighteenth century costumes for an immersive Colonial Williamsburg experience! Whether you simply want to stroll around the grounds in costume or attend a costumed event, we offer costume options for men, women and children.
18th century costume buy
Costume rental locations include William Pitt store in the Historic Area and Revolutions in the Williamsburg Visitor Center. Rental costumes are available in a range of sizes for adults and children. Rentals are only available to on-site visitors.
Our "off the rack" costumes are made with period-appropriate silks and fabrics, including Colonial Williamsburg Reproduction Print Fabrics. Costumes are mostly machine sewn, with some hand finishing.
COSTUME RENTALS SUSPENDED: We are not accepting rental costume orders at this time due to COVID-19. Sales of ready-made costumes have resumed - please visit Tarpley, Thompson, and Co. in the Historic Area to browse our selection. Please visit our Store Update page for information about adjusted hours and services due to COVID-19.
There are many different types of 18th century dress sold by sellers on Etsy. Some of the popular 18th century dress available on Etsy include: 18th century stays, 18th century dress pattern, 19th century dress, 17th century dress, 18th century dress french, and even 18th century gown.
Jas. Townsend & Son Inc. is a manufacturer and retailer of quality reproduction 18th and early 19th Century clothing and personal accessories. We service the living history community, historic sites, museums, and theatrical, motion picture, and television production companies.
Period Corsets is a dedicated team of highly skilled stitchers with a passion for precision. We have been the provider of corsets and costumes for the performing arts for over 20 years. Defined by exquisite craftsmanship and timeless elegance we are driven by a passion for artistry and a commitment to the highest quality. Each garment is handmade in Seattle, Washington, and our work has been featured around the world on stage and screen. Whether you are looking for meticulously researched and designed historical corsets, petticoats, skirt supports and underwear for a film or theatrical production or a sophisticated, one-of-a-kind look of your own, Period Corsets offers complete period undergarment silhouettes from all historical eras as well as custom designs. Each creation is characterized by the careful attention to detail, innovative patterning and fine precise stitching that have become Period Corsets\u2019 signature.\u00A0
This pattern is a costume pattern that may be made as a gown or a bodice with a separate stomacher and petticoat. The pattern is based on original 18th century pattern shapes and can be added to an altered to create a variety of looks.
The full-page details and multiple views of costumes that appear throughout this elegantly designed volume truly highlight the luxuriousness, charm, and craftsmanship of the fashions in The Ceaseless Century. They also complement the history as told in the text of the ongoing and important influence of the eighteenth century on fashion in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries up to the present moment. In the words of Richard Martin, "Without the possibility of an eighteenth-century persistence, we would be immersed headlong in an ordinary world of minimalism, austerity, and unmitigated reason in dress." At the end of the twentieth century, when scruffy can hold sway over swagger, this tour through the past three hundred years declares an opulent option in taste that provides a pleasurable experience for both the historicist and the futurist.
Baetjer, Katherine, and Marjorie Shelley. "Pastel Portraits: Images of 18th-century Europe." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 68, no. 4 (Spring 2011). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011. See more
Chandler, Bruce. "A Sure Reckoning: Sundials of the 17th and 18th Centuries." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 26, no. 4 (December, 1967). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1967. See more
As the century progressed, the male silhouette slowly changed. By the middle of the century the wig was usually tied back (known as the tye or bag wig). By the end of the century it was out of fashion altogether except for the most formal occasions. Undergarments and knee breeches did not change very much. Coat skirts gradually became less full and the front was cut in a curved line towards the back. Waistcoats became shorter. The upper leg began to show more and more and by the end of the century breeches fitted better because they were often made of knitted silk. Shoes became low-heeled with pointed toes and were fastened with a detachable buckle and straps or ribbon on the vamp (the upper front part of a boot or shoe).
I was inspired by the many extant stays with contrast cording in the seams (what I'd call piping, although I doubt it was called that in the 18th century). I used some peach/gold silk taffeta left over from my latest francaise, and picked up some green shantung for the binding and cording. I also wanted the look of more pieces than I actually used, so I recut the pattern into more pieces just for the cover.
When I made my first late-18th century gown, I decided to make a bumpad: a bustle pad with knee-length prefab quilting to soften the line over the hips. You can read about why, and what I did, in my 1780s robe à l'anglaise project diary.
As I've gotten more interested in, and knowledgeable about, the 18th century, I've become dissatisfied with that solution. It creates a nice line for the very late 1780s/early 1790s, when skirts were relatively narrow, but doesn't give the big foofy effect seen in 1770s and early/mid 1780s skirts. So I decided to make some proper 18th century skirt supports, with the bonus that these will work well as skirt supports for the other big-skirted eras (1660s, 1830s-40s) that I wear.
The bumroll is patterned from the shape recommended for this era by Jean Hunniset in Period Costume for Stage & Screen. Now, whether it's an accurate shape or not, I don't know. There is very little documentation on what these pads or rolls looked like, although costume historians tend to agree that they did wear them. The cartoon "The Bum Shop" shows VERY oversized bumrolls and pads, but since it's a cartoon, I assume that the sizes are heightened for comic effect. There are mentions of these being made of cork, but I decided to be practical and make mine of cotton stuffed with fiberfill.
When Bella Donna performed at the Northern California Pirate Festival, we were excited to get a chance go 18th century and to have a bit more fun than we usually do. Courtesans in the 16th century are serious business; in the 18th century, "courtesan" has a slightly different meaning (note the addition of quotation marks!) -- so we decided to go as tarts. We hit on the idea to use light colors in order to distinguish ourselves from all the red and black worn by most performers/attendees.
I wore my standard 18th century shift (to which I added a bit of lace at the sleeves), my peach stays, and made a fabulous stripey (in various shades of peach, red, and green) petticoat to fit over my side hoops. The best part was because I knew I'd be out in the grass/dirt, and only wearing this as a petticoat, I was free to use synthetic fabric (which I hardly ever do these days!) - which made the petticoat very cheap! It's loud enough that it didn't need trim, either, so it was quick to sew.
With it I wore a HA-UGE 18th century wig, which I made following this tutorial. Sadly, I am not a professional wigmaker, so it didn't turn out as neatly as I would like, but it got the point across. I'm not sure if it will last for more than one wearing -- I would like to try to redo it, but I'm not sure how to do it any more neatly. But I finally fulfilled my desire for Big 18th Century Hair, and that was exciting!
Add to it all as much jewelry as I could get on, a bunch of patches (again, credit to Jen for making us skull-and-crossbones patches - whee!), and my red & white striped parasol, and you get 18th century tart-age!
Then I cut some more fabric to make "ribbons," centering the various stripes so as to have some variation. I always have a hard time figuring out what to do with ribbon on a hat other than box pleat it. So I thought about those 18th century dresses where the trim is padded out with cotton wadding, and came up with this effect, layered on top of a ruffle made of the white taffeta. I used some narrower ribbon to add a detail to the turned up brim and make a bow, and I found some yellowish-green ostrich feathers at Lacis (the ONLY color they had, except white, which went with the hat colors). I may also add the glinty pin, which I found in my last foray to the LA garment district. The feathers/bow/pin aren't attached yet; I'm thinking I want to make those into their own hoo-ha so I can remove them and wear them without the hat. 041b061a72