Thrifting Regency: Converting a modern tuxedo shirt (learn from my mistakes)

I made a Georgian/Regency shirt from scratch for my Louis cosplay, but I didn't want that to be my only shirt for an entire LARP weekend (sweat is real y'all) and since most of a men's shirt in Regency is hidden by the cravat, waistcoat, and jacket, I was curious to see if I could modify a modern men's shirt to pass muster.

Here was the cunning plan:

1. Get an oversized dress shirt
2. Remove the collar
3. Do a light gather at the neck line & make sizing adjustments to the collar
4. Sew the collar back on upside down so the part that’s nice and showed when it was turned down originally, is now what shows when it’s turned up
   
5. Use the cravat, waistcoat, and jacket to hide the modern elements of the shirt & do my best to ignore the modern fabric texture
6. Profit

So, I went to my local thrift store and got an oversized men's tuxedo shirt with a very stiff collar to use as my base shirt. This was a mistake (more on that in the "Learn from my mistakes" section at the end), but I was able to successfully modify it into a passable Regency shirt.

And I actually documented the steps for once.

How To Regency-ify a Modern Tudexo Shirt

Step 1: Take the original collar off

Step 2: Seam rip what will be your new “top” seam & cut the points into a more squared off shape

Step 3: Burrito method sew it back together

Step 4: Seam rip the sides & make the collar smaller, if applicable 

(Note: I ended up taking the collar portion in further after these pictures were taken)

 

Step 5: Sew the collar back on flipped from the way it was originally so the stays pockets (hidden originally by folding down the collar) won't be visible when wearing the shirt with a standing collar.

Step 6: Remove, re-size, and add a button the cuffs because you stupidly picked a shirt with French cuffs

Step 7: Sew up the front because it doesn't have buttons.

(I didn't take a photo of this step)

Step 8: Profit

And voila! The finished shirt!

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out, but I did make some choices that ended up creating unnecessary work for myself. Which brings us to...

Learn From My Mistakes

1. Don't use an oversized shirt

I thought using an oversized shirt as a base would allow me to have enough fabric to gather it at the neck and sleeve for a more period look. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.

Instead, get a base shirt that fits you - especially at the neck, so you can minimize the amount of alterations.

2. Find a shirt with normal button cuffs and a button front closure

I used a tuxedo shirt as my base, which was designed to be used with cufflinks and shirt studs. So I had to take off the french cuffs, re-size them, and add buttons. I also had to sew up the front of the shirt because there weren't buttons to keep it closed.

If you pick a base shirt that has cuffs with buttons that fit, and that  buttons up the front, you can avoid these steps entirely.

3. Don't use a shirt with a stiff collar

It seems counter intuitive, but the heavy interfacing on stiff collars is a pain to sew through, and it’ll be more uncomfortable to wear up around your neck.

When picking out a shirt, try folding the collars of a few contenders and pick the one that folds the most easily.

4. Don’t undo the seam where the band is sewn to the shirty body

You won't need to re-size the band if you get a shirt that fits you at the neck, and removing this seam and flipping it will cause your button hole to be on the wrong side.

Instead, undo the seam where the collar is sewn to the band.

5. Mark “anchors” before you remove the collar

Use a contrasting thread or tailor’s chalk to mark the center-back, and a couple of other points on both the collar and stand, so you can line things back up properly when you’re re-attaching the collar.

 

Conclusion 

Despite what this post may imply, this is actually a pretty simple project. I over-complicated it dramatically, but if you follow my "learn from my mistakes" tips, I think even a novice sewer could get a pretty decent result suitable for most costuming applications.

If any of you have done something similar, or decide to try this for yourself, please let me know in the comments! I'd love to see photos!