The voluminousness of the sleeve was caught in a smocked band just above the elbow and attached to the slim bottom half of a basic tight Victorian sleeve. All in all it looked like your typical Victorian dress but with the embroidery of an earlier and simpler lifestyle. One of the requirements of this new style was comfort and elegance. As Smocking was in the fashion it became almost a requirement. As the smock fell out of favor with the agricultural workers it became the garment of choice among the artists.
Traditions die hard.
More on the feather stitch. I spent my Saturday working a doll show which is always a delight for me. The owner was not content to just embroider the triple feather on all of the tucks - no there had to be variation. She broke up the monotony of the embroidery by stitching the triple feather down the first tuck, then used the double feather on the second, triple on the third. Then a row of buttons which closed the bodice and the pattern continued on the other side.