New Civil War Dress

I started a new Civil War dress months ago.  It's all cut out and waiting to be sewn.  I wanted it to be in a lighter color than my first one.  I have a lovely fabric that I got at a Hancock Fabrics going out of business sale.  At first I had trouble deciding which way the pattern should go:

Fabric with garlands arching down                      Fabric with garlands arching up

I decided, with the help of the ladies on the Sensibility board, to use the one on the left, so it looks like swags.

I used Simplicity's Civil War pattern 4551:

I will be changing the pattern a bit to make it more authentic as described in this thread on the Sensibility board (must register to view, but it's free): Simplicity 4551 Thread