La Ronde

The Young Wife

This is a boned bodice I researched and constructed for the character Emma in the play La Ronde.  This play is based in Vienna, Austria, and was written by Arthur Schnitzler in 1897.  The bodice is period accurate and made for a young woman of wealth.  Taking these elements into consideration I chose a teal coloured taffeta as the top layer and natural cotton lace for detail, there are two layers of black drill that make up the base of the bodice and it is only boned to underneath the bust.  It was important to me that the piece was high fashion for the period; as such I reduced the fullness of the sleeves but still pleated the sleeve head into the armhole, and created rounded cuffs which were piped off.  I also made the bodice front fastening and incorporated a highly decorated standing collar but kept all other detail simple and chic.