All posts filed under: 20th Century

Rate the Dress: Velvet & Fur in 1900

Despite a few readers loving last week’s avant garde green and gold Lanvin jumpsuit, most of you didn’t.  It rated a rather dismal 4.9 out of 10, with opinions ranging from Stella’s “Who knew!?!? Harem pants  can  look cool” to comparisons to a trashbag.  Ouch. This week’s rate the dress is brought to you courtesy of the exceptional weather we have been having in Wellington.  It’s been snowing.  Now, this wouldn’t be exciting if I lived in the South Island, but snow in Wellington happens once or twice a century.  And my suburb?  Never!  We live at sea level!  But we have been having hours long snow-storms, and the whole neighborhood has been outside with cameras.  It’s such big news it made the New York Times.  If that wasn’t a hyperlink it would be in bold, italics and underline, all at the same time.  The only one who doesn’t love the weather is Felicity.  Poor kitty is freaked out.  She doesn’t understand this white cold stuff that falls from the sky. Obviously, I need to …

Rate the dress: Lanvin does green and gold

Last week I presented a 1860s dress that Daniel dubbed “daft as a bucketful of monkeys.”  It was pretty excessive:  all those ruffles and frills and poofs! The rating divided you into two groups: those of you who like “almost stupidly romantic and frilly” (as Libby described it) and those of you who thought that it looked like it was hiding a roll of toilet paper.  The lovers of feminine froth outweighed the naysayers just enough to bring it in at a passable 6.3 out of 10. This weeks ‘Rate the Dress’ takes us from almost saccharine sweetness to avant garde sophistication.  The MFABoston holds this Lavin designed green harem-panted evening ensemble with gold Celtic knot inspired gilded-leather trim, clearly designed for the fashionista who wasn’t afraid to take risks. The outfit teeters between frumpy and sultry: the lack of sleeves would show off fashionably toned and tanned arms, but the details of the deep armscythes might draw attention to your armpits, which aren’t usually the most attractive bit of our anatomy.  The light, flowing …

A 1903 corset for Emily

I realised I can’t call my 1903 straight fronted corset to go with Emily’s dress ‘Emily’s corset’, as I already did another corset for a different (far more fabulous) Emily. So, I need to have another name for it.  And I think I have an idea, inspired by the fabrics I’m using. The outer fabric is an oyster coloured silk shantung.  It’s a gorgeous fabric: almost no slub (the usual shantung problem, which makes it of dubious historical value), and it glows like a pearl. The story of how I got the fabric is adorable.  My mother in law gave it to me, on my birthday, but she stressed that it wasn’t my present (she also gave me something else, all gorgeously wrapped), it was just something she had lying around that she wasn’t using.  Why wasn’t it a present?  Because that would be like giving me work for my birthday. Awwww.  Hehe.  I still haven’t managed to convince my darling MIL that really, I would love getting fabric for every birthday. The lining fabric …