Cutting a different coat

My last post about analyzing and using historical books to make patterns was a little thin on process. Since I no longer draft patterns by hand and do them in the computer, I'm trying to find the right way to discuss what I'm doing. I definitely THINK the same way about drafting but the little things are completely different. 

For me, drafting in the computer is much less wasteful. When I draft by hand while learning a new kind of pattern or a new garment, I use SO much paper and it is incredibly wasteful. As part of my effort to reduce my carbon footprint, the digital drafting just makes better sense. While learning to draft a Victorian era suit, for example, I used an entire roll of pattern paper in two weeks...and not the small kind of roll either, this was 48" wide and about 100 yards of paper or more. I can't justify that kind of waste anymore, even if it is recyclable. 

So, this Regency era coat draft has been giving me fits. I have drafted more than 100 attempts in order to understand how the geometry works and why and since I've done it in the computer, I don't have a pile of trash versions to throw away. 

What is making this hard for me to understand you ask? In the simplest terms, its the way the garment wraps around the body and how the materials interact with gravity to create the precise drape of the period. 

The back of the coat is quite narrow at the beginning of the 19th century. So narrow, in fact, that I had a hard time understanding how it was wearable. Similarly, the angle of the front shoulder is so severely sloped that my early attempts would never sit properly at the neck. 

In order to understand, I attempted to draft the pattern over my normal block at first and was never able to achieve the right shape. The repeated failure was SO frustrating that I almost gave up. 

I began to compare the drafts in the manuals to those of the few extant coats of the same style which survive today and found that by and large, they were VERY similar. This was even more frustrating because I was CERTAIN that the diagrams must be idealized and couldn't possibly work on a normal body. Of course, those assumptions were incorrect. 

What I realized is that in order to create the right shape, I needed to draft the body of the coat in a specific position on my typical drafting grid and then rotate the pieces into a different orientation to draft the skirts into place. 

This is the drafting orientation over the normal body block that I use. The front seems as thought it is out of alignment and drooping far too low to work properly. The armhole isn't as round and circular as the armhole of the period and it felt wrong. I later figured out that the armhole is fine, it just looks different because I am larger guy and not the shorter, thinner body for whom the original diagram was intended.

This diagram shows the coat front after it has been rotated up into position that matches the orientation of the original diagrams. 

Finding the right proportions wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Throughout history, tailors have used similar proportions for similar measures. For example, 1/6 of the chest is typically used to measure shoulder lengths and even though it is incredibly sloped, 1/6 of the chest comes quite close to the correct measure for this style. 

As you can see in the diagram below, there are some marked differences in my own shape, one of which, I'm not entirely sure is correct but I will know more after I have a chance to make a proper mockup. 

The back of my coat is a little wider at the shoulder blade area, partly because I am larger than the original, but also because the draft from the 1809 book doesn't correspond perfectly with the few extant pieces from the same decade...they all have slightly wider backs than the idealized form shown in the original diagram. I have incorporated this here and in my modern test of the draft, it seems to work well and doesn't compromise the accuracy of the shape. 

The second thing that is quite different is the angle and shape of the front. My body front isn't as crooked or bent as the original draft. I could definitely stand to make the skirts a little narrower at the hem and achieve a little bit more of the correct angle from chest to hem, but the shoulder area will not shift much. The whole garment is larger and wider at the top because I am just a larger person. It is my hope that I will cut out the full mockup and it will just drape perfectly in place. 

It is interesting to note that ironwork and tailored shaping had all be vanished during the 18th century and in these kinds of coats, there is almost no manipulation save for a tiny bit at the side seam which helps reduce some of the wrinkling which pulls across the hips. 

The way these coats are cut, the garment lies tightly against the body from shoulder blades to waist, accentuating the line of the back and particularly the small of the back. The appearance is dramatic and actually feels more satisfying to wear than I anticipated it would. 

I truly look forward to making the mockup, now that I understand the pattern.

Even after all my decades as a tailor and pattern maker, the simplicity of the construction of the garment countered against the incredibly complex geometry of the cut are testament to the skill and ingenuity of tailors of the past. 

In my opinion, no other period exemplifies the tailor's art to such a degree. The tradespeople of this period were truly at the apex of the art and science of cutting cloth.