Cravat and Neck Stock

A period stock from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

After trimming the cravat down to a more manageable size, I decided that I also needed a neck stock to go with it. I didn't have a pattern for one, once again, so I did a lot of searching of online images. I found that while all the reproductions I saw were made with very defined pleats, and a boxy rectangular shape, the images of actual period stocks were looser, and didn't have the pleats sewn or ironed in. I think if I were making a stock for a military outfit - which would be made of black horsehair - it might be more along the lines of the crisp pleats, but this is to be a gauzy, civilian one.


I measured my neck, and the width of the brass buckles I had, and from there figured out how much linen to cut. Using the same method of gathering pleats as with the shirt, I gathered the ends and sewed them to the tabs of the stock, and then made buttonholes in the tabs to insert the buckles:

I think it turned out great. Here are some shots of the finished pieces:

And with the cravat:

Next up: an actual piece of Victorian tailoring!