18th Century Plum Anglaise

Made as a gift for my mother. I got a great deal on a 4.5 yard piece of this gorgeous plum silk taffeta, and based on the horrid photos of the gold caraco she borrowed from me last year, I thought it was my duty as a daughter to remedy the situation.

My mother has Italian heritage, and yellow just does not have any love for her olive skin tone. Also, I've got about 40 pounds on her easy. I made her a set of strapless stays from the JP Ryan pattern, and set out to drape this dress over them.

The stomacher is a nod to one of my favorite childhood toys. Can you guess which one?