A Random Find...

After years of seeing this mid to late 1780s jacket style bodice through my various books and travels (I've seen it in person), I stumbled across some hi res images of it from the Kyoto digital archives last night.
Then today, while searching for waistcoat fabric for a Dickens Fair ensemble, I stumbled across the perfect fabric for it in Santa Cruz.

I also have very two very similar patterns for this in Norah Waugh's book, The Cut Of Women's Clothes...so while this is one for the back burner, it will get made. I swear!

The original:


A close up of the original fabric:
Note how the wider, colorful stripe is slightly raised.


My fabric:
I will be using the broader stripe on the vertical, like the original. While it's not an exact match to the one above, I have seen late 18th century textiles with the dotted stripe such as here.


I am also drawn to purples and lavenders, so this one naturally caught my eye.
Perhaps I'll pair it with an off white or ivory skirt in a sheer cotton over a solid backing? I'll have to shop my historic resources, which is always fun ;-)