I'm reading an excellent book called The Needle's Eye at the moment, and it's all about style and sewing and women from various classes in 18th century New England. It's so enjoyable & I loved the chapter that lets you peek into the actual wardrobes of people who lived back then! Aprons were quite popular for most of the century, and it made me want to try layering on bottom instead of top. So I found a shorter skirt and longer dress and tried it out: I quite enjoyed the final effect! I do realise it won't be to everyone's taste though, and I'm not sure how many other versions I could manage, as most of my dresses & skirts are similar lengths. This is a fairly busy dress, but I added my bee brooch as a subtle touch and then my other silver jewelry.

It was a bit brisk outside for a sleeveless dress, so I knew I'd need to add a topper. Apparently most 18th century dresses had mid-length (vs full length) sleeves, and the 'split dress' which showed off the wearer's petticoat was quite popular, so this coat seemed a fun nod to those long ago trends. As there was no rain forecasted, I could wear my taupe booties, and of course I added my burgundy socks to repeat the colour. I can't resist matchy matchy footwear options.

Feedback and critiques welcome! I showed you the topper-free shot as that's what I'm wearing inside: if I were to wear it outside I think I'd switch my belt for a lighter one and find a way to bring the burgundy up towards my face to balance out the weight of the extra skirt. But the coat neatly solved those issues for me. Anyway, it's interesting that right now so much of fashion is about layering on top but we don't often see bottoms layered. That seems to be shifting though: I remember Inge's links about dresses over trousers. I'll have to try that soon!