And, as an aside, if making a formal gown for evening, be sure to
differentiate between 'ball dress' and 'evening wear.' I have yet to
find an image of a post-1810 ball gown that has a train. Up to and
around 1810 there are plenty of 'full dress' or 'evening wear' or 'opera
dress' gowns that do, but ball gowns, no.
Ball dress:
http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/1800train/1809-wu-ackermann-balldress.png
Evening full dress:
http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/1800train/1809-white-washington.jpg
Generally, I agree with you that early 19th-century ball gowns were
often shorter than other evening dresses. However, Jane Austen does
interestingly say in _Northanger Abbey_ that Catherine and her friend
Isabella "called each other by their Christian name, were always arm in
arm when they walked, pinned up each other's train for the dance, and
were not to be divided in the set."
Fran
Lavolta Press
Books on historic clothing, including:
The Lady's Stratagem: A Repository of 1820s Directions for the Toilet,
Manuta-Making, Stay-Making, Millinery & Etiquette
http://www.lavoltapress.com
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