All posts filed under: 18th Century

Robe a la Uh-Oh

First of all, thank you to everyone for your kind words in response to Friday’s post. I wanted to respond to them individually, but have been having trouble with this site’s server being down, so haven’t been able to. We really are fine, everyone is fine, just stressed and worried. We’re still so lucky compared to Christchurch (even after only the 2010 quake) because Wellington was built to be earthquake safe, and there has been so little damage that life can go on. You can go to museums, the theatre, an offbeat movie, cafes and restaurants, cute shops, to just escape for a bit. So much of that got destroyed in Christchurch that friends in the city told me it was really hard to have a normal life around the quakes, and to get any relief from the after-effects. I just needed to release a little tension, and then I could go on. One blog post and I’m fixed. What a privilege. My heart goes out to the small town of Seddon right now, where …

My, what an enormous padded fur or fabric hand receptacle/warmer you have

Published by The Dreamstress

So, I originally titled this post “My, what an enormous muff you have”, a la Little Red Riding Hood, because apparently I’m on a children’s story theme this week. Then Mr D pointed out that my title was perhaps a little more risque than I usually aim for with my blog. After blinking at him in confusion for a very long moment, comprehension finally dawned. Ohhhhhh…. I know I keep him around for something! Anyway, I’ve been looking at late 18th and early 19th century fashion plates, and, thanks to my love of muffs, I’ve noticed all the absolutely enormous muffs that were in fashion in the Regency period. I mean, look at this: Her head would fit in the hand hole! And if you thought that one was bad, look at this one: Forget keeping her hands warm, if she gets cold enough she could climb into this thing wholesale, and keep warm like a little post-Revolutionary space rebel. How did she even carry it? It would weigh half her body weight! Things got …

Rate the Dress: ca. 1790 stripey separates

Published by The Dreamstress

Oh my! The bright blue paisley 1900s frock last week was fun! Some very strong reactions to the dress. Some of you loved the fabric. Some of you hated the fabric. Some of you loved the lace. Some of you hated the lace. Some of you loved the silhouette. Some of you hates the silhouette. Some of you hated it all! Even those of you who loved bits, and had a soft spot for the overall outrageousness, agreed the dress was less than the sum of its parts. The dress rated a 3.3 out of 10, which is pretty much as low as it goes. Cyrannetta called the lace on last week’s frock ” a moldy overgrowth,” and I agree that black lace on a lighter pattern can be a tricky thing to pull off. Inspired by that, I’ve picked another item which features delicate black lace trim over a patterned fabric, and it’s a Separate! This unknown young woman wears a blue and white striped zone-front jacket trimmed with fine black lace with an …