All posts filed under: 18th Century

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?

Published by The Dreamstress

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 …

Rate the Dress: Lady in White

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week I posted a vibrant, exotic 1930s frock with a simple silhouette. Some of you were a little unsure of the bolero, both in length and decoration, and karenb went against the trend and flat out didn’t like it, but it got so much love from everyone else that it managed an more-than-respectable 8.5 out of 10. This week let’s tone things way down (colour wise – ornamentation wise things are going to get a little busier) with a white themed ‘Rate the Dress’. Perin-Salbreux’s ‘Lady in White’ is very white, from her powdered hair to her fashionably pale skin, through her pearl bracelets, white on white on white on white dress, and to the peep of white shoe. Her dress is probably part fancy dress, part fantasy, meant to conjure up images of the ancient maidens who the 18th century public imagined to have dressed constantly in white while garlanding altars to love with roses. The details of the outfit, though, are pure late 18th century: the shorter petticoat with deep ruffle, the …