I haven’t done a Rate the Dress since last October. And the time before that was July. And I can’t promise the next one won’t be July again, or worse. But I can hope and try.
And today’s pick is just too unique and fascinating not to show you!
Last time: A 1908 Paquin ensemble
Ratings were all over the place for the Paquin ensemble. First there was a solid runs of 8s and 9s, and then a perfect 10, and then 4 and 1 and 6s! Every rating but a 5, so I guess no one thought it was average.
Huge thanks to Daniel for identifying the original design it was based on!
The Total: 7.3 out of 10
Not great. But it leads so well into today’s post…
This time: A 1873 cape in aniline purple with bobbles
Today’s Rate the Dress isn’t a full ensemble. It’s just a cape.
Cape, 1873, American, wool, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009.300.2732
But oh, what an interesting cape!
Cape, 1873, American, wool, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009.300.2732
It’s knitted from purple wool dyed with one of the newly invented and very fashionable aniline dyes, and decorated with bobbles in ivory wool.
Cape, 1873, American, wool, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009.300.2732
It’s definitely one of those things that if you saw in a period film you’d assume the costume designer had lost their marbles.
It’s so ’70s!
And actually ’70s.
(I guess some decades never change, no matter the century)
Cape, 1873, American, wool, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009.300.2732
The colour and bobbles remind me of ube boba tea.
(and now I’m having an absolute 12 year old boy brain moment, because boba means nipples, so it’s the nipple cape with nipple tassels. I think it might be bedtime…)
To give you an idea of what it might have been worn over, here are some early 1870s fashion plates:
Woman’s dolman mantle, front & back views. Harper’s Bazaar, November 1871
A dress featuring a ‘Watteau’ back, September, 1872 – The Young Englishwoman
Fashion plate, 1875
What do you think? A fun and cozy addition to an early bustle era wardrobe? Or just a little weird?
Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10
A reminder about rating — feel free to be critical if you don’t like a thing, but make sure that your comments aren’t actually insulting to those who do like a garment. Phrase criticism as your opinion, rather than a flat fact. Our different tastes are what make Rate the Dress so interesting. It’s no fun when a comment implies that anyone who doesn’t agree with it, or who would wear a garment, is totally lacking in taste.
As usual, nothing more complicated than a .5. I also hugely appreciate it if you only do one rating, and set it on a line at the very end of your comment.
I very much agree. This looks like a new dessert at Jollibee. I like the garish purple, the gentler ivory, and the boba tassels. I expect they jostle merrily if the wearer is a “flutterer”. Picture it on the actress who played Mrs Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice (in the deep South)” with Greer Garson.
9
As a knitter, I have to admire the work(wo)manship.
That aside, I must say it reminds me of something growing in a petri dish (except of course inverted, as the growth medium would be pale and the stained growths coloured). Gives me the heeby jeebies a bit.
4/10
I’d wear it today, absolutely!
It’s not my favorite thing ever… maybe it’s a little too all-over for my taste? But it’s fun and at least in the same room as practical.
I love reminders that people in the past were real, regular people. A detail that looks like it’s from one is but is actually from a wildly different era has a way of bringing this home for me.
Rating- 9
I love it; it reminds me of a starfish! My children love it; they are asking for copies in their own sizes. We could go to Halloween parties as a family of echinoderms.
8.5
I would be so excited if I went to a Halloween party and everyone was dressed as echinoderms!
Despite purple being my favorite color (various shades of purple), I’m not into bobbles or fringe, so for me this is a no. I’ll give it a 5 because of the uniqueness and what appears to be good craftsmanship.
oh dear. oh my. well, no, this one is not for me. definitely it gets points for “go big or go home”, though; it’s the most epic use of bobbles i have ever seen. it rather reminds me of some kind of sea creature…sorry. i have to say i have not seen anything quite like it. the wearer would stand out, even in a fairly ornament-obsessed decade. i hope this was worn over the plainest of ensembles, perhaps second mourning dress.
rating: 1/5
I love it, and it was offered to me today I would start wearing it instantly! I’m not sure how it would go with the fashions of the time, and it would probably stick out like a sore thumb or something. Still I want one, too bad I can’t knit.
10/10
I’m with nofixedstars. Bobbles are wonderful, but the ecru shade reminds my of what we here call puffball mushrooms. They can be golf ball size, and as they mature, become papery, so that if you touch one it will either fall apart or rip, and in so doing, puff out a very fine brown powder that hangs in the air…its spores.
If someone in the 1970s, during my childhood, had worn this cape, I’d have been so tempted to see if the hundreds of little balls would poof.
That said, the royal purple is wonderful…wool takes dye so beautifully.
Glad this wonder escaped the nibbles of 150 years of moths!
A 5, please, for the color
I really dislike both bobbles and fringe, so this was a no-go for me right from the start. I do like the color. 2/10.
Can’t it be fun, cozy, AND a little weird? That is what this is!
The strange half-and-half fringe is not my thing, but the novelty of it all is so endearing. A solid B.
8.5/10
Hmmm…this looks like something you would have seen in a 1970s French fashion magazine. It’s pretty unique and has survived the years well, but regardless, I can’t begin to number the other historical garments I would rather wear. As such, I’d have to give it a
2 out of 10
I kind of love it! It looks so cozy, but also like one of those ottomans with elaborate fringe around the bottom. Definitely a statement piece; I want one for myself.
8
It’s not for ME, but I love it. I love the surprising 1970s connection, too, because one of the 1970s’s worst crimes is artificial fibre, and this is wool!!!
Also, purple + cream brings up a childhood memory of a pom-pom I called “blueberry and cream”. So. That’s a completely irrational winner in my book.
Not a complete personal stunner, but definitely an enjoyable statement piece for me.
8/10
If I didn’t trust you and know that you wouldn’t lie to me, I wouldn’t have believed that this wasn’t from the 1970s.
But, I don’t really like this particular style. I can admire that it’s well done, and the color is wonderful, but I’m not a big fan of that look.
4/10 (for the skill I know it took)
Uh, my mind went straight to “Dudley’s old jumper, brown with orange bobbles”…
I find I like the purple color, the fringe, and the condensed trim of smaller bobbles, but the vast bobble field just hurts my eyes. I’m on my way to a full blown migraine now.
4/10