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[Heather]

Not one of my favorite points in history for fashion, but I think these gowns are day dresses from 1873, around October perhaps?
Wild guess on the month but I'll give it a shot anyways.
The high waistline, belled sleeves, and the shift from elliptical hoop to a large bustle tells me this is very early in the 1870s.

To construct either of these dresses I could probably work with and modify TV patterns for the TV108 Grand Bustle for foundation, TV305 for an overskirt, TV405 for a bodice, and TV202 for the underskirt.

No offense to those that like the early half of the 1870s, but I remember reading one amusing account from a fashion columnist in Paris during this time in history who stated that women wearing "the new style of the decade" resembled "slowly moving tree trunks as they promonade"
Some of the evening gowns look like oversized wedding cakes, overdone with frills and any kind of trim they could fit onto one gown.

XOXO
~Vienna

I'd say 1870.

i think 1875 eve. dress

I guess if they get knocked over wont hurt too much Heheheheee

that bustle is HUGE

1. The date of the dress, to a specific year.

I think 1870 or 1871. Why? The skirt *is* huge, but it's shaped in a way that recalls the late elliptical hoop skirts. Also, the bustle rides very high--it gets lower as the decade wears on. Also, one of the bodices seems to have the kind of V neck that's seen on some dresses of the early 1870s.

2. Type of dress, for example: day, evening, ballbown, reception, etc.

It's harder to tell than it would otherwise be, because we cannot see the neckline of the dress of the woman on the left, and can only see a bit, in profile, of the neckline of the dress on the right.

I'd say the dress on the left is a day dress, because it has long sleeves, no apparent indication of a low neck, and no train. On the other hand, I think the dress on the right is a reception gown, because it has a train, and a lower (apparently a V) neck. I do not think it is an evening gown or dinner dress because it has long sleeves, not short or 3/4 length.

3. The reasons for your choices, in detail.

See above.

4. Any construction ideas you may have to make the dress yourself, including patterns, trimmings, and correct support garments.

I see both gowns as being either heavy silk taffeta or velvet, with darker ribbon trim. Support garments would include a corset and a petticoat or two over a large bustle or bustle petticoat like TV's Grand Bustle. You could make the bodice for the day dress on the left from TV 400 and the TV 201 early bustle underskirt (though you'd have to improvise an overskirt, and add the odd rectangular panel that falls down the back). As for the reception gown on the left, TV 201 would work for the skirt also, though you'd need to add a train. I'm not sure how to handle the bodice of the reception gown.

Wait! I need to change my answer. There's a picture in Harper's Bazar showing something very similar. It's an 1872 watering place outfit.

[Heather]

Very good!!

This is a fashion plate from the December 1871 issue of the Demorest's Illustrated Monthly. This plate shows dinner or reception dresses.

Mme Demorest was one of the first companies to offer cut paper patterns for sale. She speciallized in easy-wear stylish gaments, and later would be a major advocate for the reform dress movement and the liberation of women in society in general.

What makes these 1870's gowns?

The first thing to notice is the overall shape of the dress. It is very large in the front, and fairly roundish. This is the shape of 1869-1873ish. The next thing I noticed is the separate train of the one dress. This type of train (a short skirt under the often detachable train) was very polular in 1870-1871. The trimmings are fairly simple, and net yet overyly ubundant as seen in 1872 and later years.

Both of the dresses have the belled sleeves, full at the wrist, popular durring 1870-1872. Both bodices rise to the waist at the sides, with legthening at the front and back, again very characteristis of 1870-1873ish dresses. And the most telltale feature of all is the bows on the back of the waist. Virtually every dress from 1870-1871 has the bow. In 1872 the bow disappears.

The dresses are dinner or reception dresses because of the length of the skirts, the high neckline, and longer sleeves.

Construction ideas

Well, that is kinda hard to get these exact dresses. The skirt of figure 1 should be 208. The overskirt could be made of the same pattern, a few inches shorter and less full at the back, and then picked up and tacked to the underskirt to hold it at the correct height. The skirt of Figure 2 should be 201. you would then need to add the train section to the waistband at the back.

Both bodices could be adapted from 400. Make the sleeves slightly wider at the wrist. Add a center back pannel for figure 1. Cut the necklines to the desired shape. Lenghten the Fronts to get the shape of figure 2.

Wear it all over bustle 108 and a couple of extra petticoats.

Full Description

Fig. I - Dinner or reception dress of light ashes-of-roses poult de soie, the demi-train skirt bordered with a straight flounces, about twelve inches deep, attached in very broad box-plaits, alternating with sections of gathers. This is finished with a broad hem on the bottom, above which are three rows of very narrow black velvet, and headed by a broad band of the silk, trimmed with a row of guipure insertion set between rows of velvet. The same style of trimming, is repeated on the other parts of the dress with the addition of deep tassel fringe, of black and the color of the dress intermingled. The basque and overskirt are so combined as to form a single garment. The middle of the front of the basque is cut to form a short pointed vest, and the remainder of the fronts is continued in deep, square tabs, like the sash in the back, and forms the front of the overskirt. The back has two short, square basques, and the sash, which extends from the neck to below the overskirt, is confined with a belt and supports the looping in the skirt.

Bows of ribbon and lace on the front of the waist, flowing sleeves, rather high neck, and lingerie of point lace.

Fig. 2 - Reception dress of light violet silk, trimmed with bias bands of the material, and silk a shade darker, and black Chantilly lace. It is arranged with a, postillion basque, having deep, square tabs in the front, a
round manteau de cour, and a short skirt trimmed with a narrow box-plaited flounce, headed by broad bands of the two shades of siIk, trimmed with lace. The train, looped in three places on each side by lace barbes, similar bows ornamenting the sleeves, the front of the waist, and the postillion in the back.