All posts tagged: 1880s

1870s, 1880s, natural form, Victorian dress

Rate the Dress: the Mademoiselles Giroux do natural form, ca 1880

Published by The Dreamstress

There was a really fascinating range of reactions to Madame Houbigant’s all-white (excepting her vivid red shawl) 1810s ensemble last week.  Some of you felt it flattered her more in the portrait than in real life, and some of you felt the combination of fashionably relaxed lounging didn’t pair with the heavy silk, and just made it look like she had poor posture, and that in real life, standing up straight, she would have looked much nicer.  You were fairly universally not in favour of her extremely ruffled chemisette.  All those ruffles are just one of those aspects of this era’s fashions that are hard to love with modern eyes! Madame Houbigant came in at 7 out of 10, and while not a winner in the sartorial sense, the topics of discussion that came out of the post definitely make it a winner in my books! This week’s 1880s natural form dress reminds me of last week’s, in the expanses of smooth silk, and the way it plays with proportions, only with the ruffles and …

Rate the dress: Red bow redux

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week we took a break from Rate the Dress to take a look at suffragist fashion in New Zealand. The last Rate the Dress was an embroidered 1880s dress which received two main reactions: love, because it looked like a film costume in all the right ways, and ‘nice, but somehow not exciting’.  Still, it came in at 8.6 out of 10, so the fans were in the majority! I posted an 1880s House of Worth dress in pale stone with red bows 7 weeks ago, and it didn’t do particularly well.  So I was fascinated when I found this 1880s dress from the MFA Boston with the same general design scheme: It’s so similar, but in cotton rather than heavy silk, with soft ruffles and scallops rather than crisp pleats, and as a day dress rather than a reception gown, the overall effect is quite different. Is it different enough to get a significantly improved (or reduced!) rating?  Would you like it more or less if I hadn’t pointed out the similarities to …

Rate the Dress: An early 1880s garland of autumnal flowers

Published by The Dreamstress

Sorry that posts have been a bit delayed and spotty.  We’re having internet connectivity issues, and the internet suppliers in NZ leave a bit to be desired in terms of customer service (why does it take them 5-7 business days to deliver a new modem, when I can have a zip or a load of manure delivered the next day, even on a Saturday?!?). Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Coutts, received generally rave reviews last week, with nothing below a 7, and over half of her ratings a perfect 10, with the general consensus being that her dress suited her personality perfectly, and was striking without detracting from her face.  9.3 out of 10, because while it suited the person to a T, it wasn’t a showstopper. This week, a black (yes, it is black, not navy) silk reception gown decorated with a garland of embroidery in shades of maroon and amethyst, with cream flowers: What do you think? Is the textural mix of slick satin and fluffy chenille working?  What about the muted reds on …