All my plans changed when I was allowed to examine and take the pattern from the original Hamburg version of the gown. As I now had a pattern that would work, I, of course, worked with it 
Here’s my skirt making. Remember that you can always visit the above linked site of the original gown to compare my version with the original one. Don’t be too confused if there are no trims on the skirt from the beginning; I will add those later:
Base skirt, without bustle but already with the petticoat, pinned to the dressmaking mannequin:
Skirt with apron pinned over it; still without bustle and without the pleated ruffle:
Skirt with apron and one side of the paniers pinned to it. Note that the panier is too long; a mistake I made while taking the pattern. There seems to be a bustle now, but actually it’s just a rolled up piece of fabric stuffed under the base of the skirt / petticoat combination:
All the above pictures were taken inside with a flash, so here are two pictures of the skirt so far outside in daylight:
Skirt with both (by now shortened!) paniers pinned to it:
Stay tuned for updates!
