Historical anniversaries bring re-enactors and history buffs out of the woodwork, so we thought we’d add some youthful vigor to the Transcontinental Railroad Anniversary shenanigans by creating a lovely dress and sending our intern, the lovely Anna, to join in on the fun.

The Union Pacific’s tracks joined the Central Pacific’s tracks on May 10, 1869, in Promontory, Utah.

We took our pattern from a museum book featuring mid-1800’s dress patterns and created the outfit in a nice calico. We adore how bright and cheerful Anna looks, amidst all the dark, dour costumes around her. They look like they’re dressed for a funeral and she looks like she’s dressed for a party:)

Tea dyed, linen frog closures adorn the front of her bodice plus tiny crochet lace trim on her collar and sleeves that are also finished with teeny burgundy piping. We created a straw hat for her with the matching fabric, too. Anna is wearing a corset and hoop underneath, plus a rounded ‘pillow’ to fill out her bodice, giving her the accurate monobosom silhouette of the period.