19th Century, Rate the dress

Rate the dress: a paisley dressing gown of 1855

Last week you were divided on Anne Miller’s dance routine frock from Easter Parade.  Did you rate it as a dance dress?  As a pretend historic costume?  Most of you loved the stockings, but the reaction to the rest was mixed, balancing out at an unimpressive 5.9 out of 10.  Poor Anne.

I usually present outerwear as Rate the Dress options, but since you loved Anne’s stockings so much, it occurred to me, why not present underwear?  Or at least informal wear?  And someone requested an autumn themed Rate the Dress (since it is autumn in NZ), and what is more snuggly and fall-y than a warm, cozy robe for curling up in in front of the fire with an apple and a good book?

Something like this perhaps?

Woman's wrapper American, about 1855, MFA Boston

This cosy wool wrapper from the MFA Boston features warm colours and a paisley inspired pattern.  It may or may not be made from a cheaper Western replica of a Kashmiri shawl.  It’s even paired with paisley embroidered petticoats.

Here is a detail of the pattern:

Woman's wrapper American, detail, about 1855, MFA Boston

What do you think?  Just the thing for lounging around the house and impressing the husband, or a guaranteed way to drive him out of the house?  And is paisley wrapper and paisley petticoats just too much paisley (is all paisley too much paisley) or perfectly paired?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

 

36 Comments

  1. Well, I don’t hate it… but I can’t actually decide if I like it. I love the sleeves, and the colors, but I don’t know if the print is just too much. Hmmmm…. I do like the boarder print as trim, but I think the print on the bright red is just too much for me. I think I would wear it if I got it as a gift, but it isn’t something I would pick out if I saw it in a store. But I do really love the cut of it, so it gets major points for that, the trim, and the red color.

    8/10

  2. It reminds me of a paisley shawl I inherited that once belonged to my great-great-grandmother. Lauren at American Duchess helped me date to the mid to late 19th century. I love historic paisley but not the more modern stuff, which tends to be too busy. Maybe it’s nostalgia for that shawl but I love this dressing gown and the paisley embroidery on the petticoat is just adorable. I would wear this outfit even today (well okay, not TODAY because it’s an early summer here). However, I am not a fan of the fur collar or the cap. I will go with… hmm… 9.5/10.

  3. Anna says

    I think it’s great, but the pattern is better from further away. 9/10

  4. Jub says

    Maybe it was new at this time, but for me the dress looks more like a carpet…

    I like the shape : 7/10

  5. Stella says

    I think it’s a good idea to do things other than outer wear for Rate The Dress.

    I really like this dressing gown. It looks nice and warm and comfy, and while paisley’s not my favourite pattern, I don’t dislike it either. What I do like is the use of warm colours. When you paint a room it feels warmer or colder depending on whether you painted it a warm colour, regardless of what temperature it really is, so using warm colours for a dressing gown is worth a couple of points from me. 8/10.

  6. Laura says

    I love it. I’ve been very into dressing gowns peignoirs and other such undress lately, and this looks great for a chilly morning or evening. I prefer a bit more of an open or adjustable closure on undress, and I really really hate fur trim but am not totally turned off because there is very little fur, which brings it to an 8/10. (I notice from above that others give an 8 on things they are indifferent or have mixed feelings about, but I consider it a very high mark personally.)

  7. I want to love it and it looks warm and snuggly, but I can’t get away from the feeling that she’s wearing a carpet. I do love the paisley embroidery on the coordinating petticoats, though… so 6/10.

  8. I think it’s gorgeous. Love the colour, love the print (I’ve grown into paisley); the only thing I’m not quite so happy about is that it can’t do up all the way down the front which means it’s not quite as warm as it promises
    9/10

  9. Beautiful use for a warm, snuggy, classic, timeless fabric. I could see me wearing this now as an upscale bathrobe, minus furry collar, with a paisley bedecked and very full nightgown beneath.

    It might look fantastic with wide-legged heavy silk pajamas, too, although the cut would need to be narrowed.

    For the era it’s perfect: it would suit the rounded lines of the furniture, the swagged curtains, the wall-to-wall ingrain carpeting.

    Love it.

    10 out of 10

  10. I like it — it looks comfortable, reasonably practical and pretty. I’m going with 8/10

  11. Lynne says

    11 out of 10!

    I want it. Deeply want. I live in nighties and dressing gowns, and it is very, very hard to find good dressing gowns, ones with rich colour and interesting pattern – and soft, warm, cuddly feeling for winter. I would like the skirts to come round a bit further and meet in the front for warmth.

    The curators may have made an imitation nightie for the model to wear under the gown. The cuffs are a bit lavish for a petticoat, I feel. Splendid broderie anglaise!

    • The paisley undergarment is definitely original – I’m not sure exactly if it is a petticoat or a nightgown. There are a few other ones in other collections.

  12. I like the cut of the wrapper but I think that wide border, taking up the entire front of the wearer, would just make a person look wide and dumpy. I don’t object to paisley in and of itself, and if the border were about half its current width I would really like this. I adore the petticoat and cuffs, though! What pretty cutout embroidery!

    I think I’d give it about 7.5 out of 10, for the lines and the petticoat.

  13. Daniel says

    Looks warm and practical and I do like the textile. Not the most glamorous garment but very useful and much to like. 7.5/10 for me, as it’s not wow enough but it’s very nice indeed.

    • Daniel says

      Can I revise this to 6? I didn’t notice the fur at first and now it’s all I can see and it’s kinda ICK….

  14. Nicole says

    I think it’s lovely! I really love the shape of the sleeves and the use of the boarders on the front. And the paisley on the petticoat is such a fantastic way to pull it in with the wrap. I love the rust red, and I love the brownish purple of the boarder, but I don’t love them together. All in all 9 out of 10!

  15. Pamlin says

    *G* I think I have that carpet the pattern is based on…

    Seriously, I’d wear it. It looks comfortable (and I’m trying not to be biased that it’s part of Boston’s never-displayed costume collection. Seriously! They had FIVE pieces out when I was there last!)

    Now I want cold temperatures, a roaring fire and a book , so I can curl up in it. If it inspires that feeling, it has to be effective.

    8/10

    • I’ve never heard a better recommendation for a garment than that! If it makes you want the conditions to wear it – it’s working.

      Though I don’t live near enough to see them, I don’t think MFA Boston is holding out on us. They don’t have that many costumes, so taking into account the lux hours that you can subject old costumes to, 5 at a times seems to fit perfectly. That’s the sad thing about old clothes – they just can’t be out that much. At least they have good online photos!

      • There’s a special exhibit right now (through the…end of May I think? YES May 28th) on “Textiles and the Home Front in WWII Britain” that had some decent pieces out, for any New Englanders interested! It’s a small exhibit, one room and pretty limited in focus, but interesting, and there are some nice Utility dresses and quite a few Jacqmar scarves to ogle.

        So, uh, that. As for the dressing gown: despite the fact that the paisley gives me flashbacks to terrible 80s skirts of my mama’s…it looks comfy and certainly not dull (a far greater sin than ugly in my book). 7/10

      • mfa.orgThere’s a special exhibit right now (through the…end of May I think? YES May 28th) on “Textiles and the Home Front in WWII Britain” that had some decent pieces out, for any New Englanders interested! It’s a small exhibit, one room and pretty limited in focus, but interesting, and there are some nice Utility dresses and quite a few Jacqmar scarves to ogle.

        http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/beauty-duty

        So, uh, that. As for the dressing gown: despite the fact that the paisley gives me flashbacks to terrible 80s skirts of my mama’s…it looks comfy and certainly not dull (a far greater sin than ugly in my book). 7/10

        • Dang, thought I had cancelled that ish in time to pop the link in…whoops. Sorry for the double (and I guess triple, really, considering this apology’s lack of content) post.

  16. I don’t care much for paisley, but I do love the colors of this one. In general, that is–I don’t look well in true red. An 8.

  17. I can see a Regency lady knocking the Victorian lady out for the robe. I love the color and I think it’s too dang fancy for a dressing robe.

    9/10

  18. fidelio says

    There are a lot of times I look at mid-19th century women’s clothing, pinch the bridge of my nose, and mutter “Well, it’s a logical progression straight on from the tendencies of the 1820s all the way through the 1860s, no matter how it looks,” and stop myself before I manage to calculate how much yardage got sucked up into one of those ambulatory tents they were wearing by 1864.

    I like this one, though, a lot. Even the tendency to go crazy with colors now that they have aniline dyes to play with is under reasonable control here.

    9/10.

    • I think the first of the aniline dyes was invented in 1856, but I see what you mean–even the pre-aniline Victorian dresses could be horribly gaudy by our standards.

  19. 8/10. At a first glance, it was a 10, but then I noticed the fur collar and that I did not like the shape of the opening… The fabric itself would be a 10. I guess I love paisley, too – this sort of paisley, anyway.

  20. I have to say, I would wear this on a cold rainy day, curled up with a nice book and a cup of chai tea. Love this.

    Since I can only rate up till 10, 10/10 (If I could I’d rate it 50/10)

    Em

  21. As someone who is probably going to be spending a lot of time in PJs and dressing gowns in the near future: Do Want!

    9/10, one off for not meeting all the way down the front, althou that could probably be avoided if I didn’t wear full skirts underneath.

  22. Zach says

    Well, I’ve been thinking about this rating for a while. I just can’t decide what I think about it! It’s not bad, it’s not amazing…I just don’t know. I like the petticoat a lot, though.

    Seven out of ten (I guess because I’m partial–very partial–to dressing gowns).

  23. I love it. It looks just the thing to keep a housewife’s backside and neck warm while making a pot of chocolate before bed or starting porridge in the morning.

    10/10

  24. Black Tulip says

    Come back from my dance class to a cold house on a damp April evening – and just looking at this has made me feel toasty.

    9/10

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