All posts tagged: 1800s

Old Government House, Parramatta, Sydney, thedreamstress.com

Old Government House, Parramatta, Sydney

I’m in Sydney & the surrounding area for the week, visiting the wonderful Theresa, having a much-needed mini-holiday with Mr D, and, most importantly, speaking in conjunction with the ‘Tales from the East: India & New South Wales‘ exhibition at Old Government House, Parramatta, Sydney. I was incredibly excited about getting the opportunity to visit Old Government House.  It’s the oldest public building in Australia and one of the few authentic examples of Georgian architectures in the Antipodes.  It’s also an extremely important structure from a historical standpoint.  It’s strongly linked to both Australia’s convict and colonial history, and to Governor Lachlan Macquarie.  Macquarie is sometimes called the ‘Father of Australia’.  While his legacy is chequered, he was undeniably central to shaping Sydney & New South Wales general trajectory in its formative years as a colony. He and his wife Elizabeth were also responsible for expanding Old Government House to its current structure.  The house is furnished as it would have been under their residence, in the style of the 1820s. Theresa and I were …

Rate the Dress: brief bodices and beads, ca 1810

Sometimes I know exactly what I want to post for Rate the Dress, and that it is the perfect theme. Other times, like this week, I have no idea. What I finally settled on this week wasn’t my first choice, or my second, or even my third.  Sometimes settling is a good thing, because if I hadn’t, I might not have looked at it up close, and found out that it was so much more interesting than I had thought. How so?  Scroll down to find out! Last week:  A Wedding Ensemble from 1887 Well, Louise Carnegie picked well, both when it came to men, and to fashion, because her choice of wedding ensemble was very well received.  A few of you didn’t care for the red-trimmed bodice variation (but then, some of you did), and not all of you were entirely sold on the colours.  Interestingly, most of you saw the dress as sort of a khaki or light olive colour.  Personally I thought it was a grey, with just the tiniest hint of …

Rate the Dress: Madame Houbigant in all-white

Last week’s very vividly green 1840s dress sparked a lively discussion over whether it was actually poison-green (i.e. arsenic green) or just poison-green coloured.  Deadly or not, most of you liked the brilliant hue, and while not everyone was keen on the ruffles and ties and overall silhouette, it still came in at a rather nice 8.5 out of 10. Whew!  We’d been on such a bad streak, nice to have a good score again.  Will this week’s choice revert back to the poor scores, or set us on another winning streak? This week let’s look at Madame Houbigant, wife of perfumer Jean-François Houbigant.  Her feather-trimmed cap, heavy satin over-robe, lace chemisette and Kashmiri shawl provide a more mature take on the ubiquitous all-white ensemble of Regency and Empire fashion. Nicole Adeläide Deschamps was the daughter of a perfumer herself, and her husband entered the trade by apprenticing under her father in law, and then founding his own business.  After rising in prominence under the ancient regime, and surviving the revolution, Houbigant Parfum went on …