Brunswick Jacket

The first inside and out of the year, my Brunswick jacket.  This was started, not surprisingly, in another Burnley and Trowbridge workshop.  I'll try to do the next post on the history and variants of this garment (there are a lot!).  What defines a Brunswick is a sacque back jacket with a waistcoat-like front, hood, and removable long sleeves.  Now, the waistcoat varies in appearance, as do the trimmings, cuffs, etc.  But, we'll get into all that in the next post.

I chose to make my ensemble out of a gorgeous yellow corded silk.  It has a rather stiff weight to it, so it works wonderfully as a winter garment.  I wore it outside for two hours earlier in December without feeling chilled (then my feet got cold).  It's lined with silk taffeta in the hood and lower sleeves.  Everything else is lined in plain white linen.

I made the waistcoat a separate garment (options!).  I wanted a little bit of extra warmth AND the option to use a stomacher front and quickly create a pet-en-l'air.  The trimming all over the garment is just pleated self-fabric.  I ended up doing death head buttons, despite promising myself I wouldn't (it's almost like an addiction).  However, the fabric just wasn't working well to cover buttons and metal seemed out of place.

As you can see here, the back is only one layer of fabric rather than two.  Lacing up the back allows for more adjustment in size.  Useful since the jacket is always adjustable.

You can also see the extra piece of fashion fabric at the back top.  The jacket neckline is lower so it wouldn't do to have white linen peaking out!

The jacket construction is just like a regular sacque back gown or jacket.  The laces across the lining in back keep the garment "fitted" to the body, although not so much as English gowns would be.  One of my ties apparently popped loose and needs to be re-tacked (oops).  The lining attaches to the fashion fabric just before it ends to keep from having too much of a sail on windy days.  I trimmed the separate sleeve cuffs with more pleats and silk ribbon bows.  The lower sleeves are separate and basted in.

The side pleats are a bit easier to see here.  Everything is double pleated and the side pleats do have pocket slits.  The back neck is finished with an extra piece that folds to the inside.  I chose to leave the skirts unlined since my fabric was weighty enough for all the pleating.  Much more would have been bulky, especially in back.

The trimming continues all the way around the hem.  The double back pleats (deep enough to just barely overlap inside) are tacked down on top for a few inches.  The lower sleeves have a few inches left open on the seam to get your hand through (they're rather tight) and possibly show off the lovely ruffles on your shirt.  The hem has a slight dip in length in back as well.

Pin the jacket to the waistcoat over a habit shirt with a cravat and pair with a matching petticoat and we're ready to travel!