All posts filed under: 18th Century

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

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

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 …

Terminology: what are ikat, abr, warp-printing and chine?

Ikat (also spelled ikkat), abr (also spelled ebru), warp-printed and  chine (or chine a la branche) are different names for variants of the same technique: fabric woven from yarns which have been pre-dyed (using a resist method) or printed with the intended pattern, producing a characteristic soft, blurred pattern once the yarns are woven into a cloth. Strictly speaking,  ikat  and  abr  are created by pre-dying the threads with a resist dye method before weaving, and  chine  and warp-printing are created by printing the warp threads before weaving, though the line between the two different techniques, both in which fabrics are called which, and in how the fabrics are produced, is as blurred as those on the fabrics they describe. Ikat is the Indonesian term (from the Malay mengikat ‘to bind’), and is the most commonly heard name for the fabric in modern times.  18th century fashion enthusiasts will know the French name, chine or chine a la branche, which specifically refers to multi-coloured warp-patterned fabric, and Pompadour silk, a later English term for the …