Looking at silk fabrics

I'm not seriously thinking about buying any of these, as it'd be about $100 worth of silk for a dress, and I don't have a reason for a dress right now. But, they're fun to look at anyway, and I'm comparing them to original gowns.

First up, a gold and red "vintage" style plaid taffeta. Compare it to this original 1860's green plaid dress. Close-up view of the fabric is here.

Next is a beautiful gold plaid and satin stripe taffeta I found. Wow! Then I came across this this original blue and brown plaid/stripe dress... they're not the same, but I can see some similarities. Original fabric close-up is here. And here is another original dress that reminds me of this silk. Oh, here is another lovely silk. They're both gold, and I have no idea how that would look with my strawberry-blonde hair and ruddy complexion!!

One of my favorite silks so far is this red/brown/gray/black/white plaid taffeta I found, which sort of reminds me of this dress. View the close-up here.

I found a lot of checkered fabrics on the Pure Silks site, too, mostly in lighter shades of gold, green, blue, gray. Here is one, and it reminds me of this original dress, which looks more like a horizontal stripe until you see a closer view. I like the trim on the sleeves, it looks military-inspired.

They have a couple of pinstripe taffetas too, comparable to this original bodice. I wish more detailed pics were available of that dress.

I absolutely love this multi-colored plaid but I'm not sure if the plaid is too big... and I can't quite tell if that is green or gray. If it's green I might look very Christmas-y. I also love, love, love this black & white plaid from their eBay store, but it does seem a bit big. Or does it? This plaid dress and this one have very large patterns. Oh, why don't they make silks like that last one anymore? (DROOL!!!!)

Oh, and I just found one more, a that looks ever-so-slightly like this circa 1865 gown.

Maybe I can treat myself to a length or two of silk when I reach my weight-loss goal. 45 lbs down, only 60 more to go! (Sigh)