All posts filed under: 18th Century

Rate the Dress: Marie Christine of Austria in somewhat less pink

What to say about last week’s dress….oh dear. Not a lot of love from most of you. So much to complain about…colour, textures, silhouette, and that pectoral fin. Mostly colour though. Some enterprising viewers noted that if you were colourblind, the chartreuse and pale pink looked lovely together, and wondered if the wearer/maker had been colourblind. Personally I rather liked the colours – they are so unexpected, and the Victorians did love to play with wild colour schemes. I will agree that the dress had other issues, so despite the few people who really loved it, I’m not surprised that the final rating was a 3.4 out of 10 Since so many of you had problems with the colour, let’s tone the palette down in this weeks ‘Rate the Dress’. The last time we looked at Marie Antoinette’s sister Marie Christine she was wearing pink, and lots of it. You called her a ‘blinged out sheep’ with an 18th century mullet’, and still managed to give her a 6.5 out of 10. Today her ensemble …

Thoughts on late 18th century pet-en-l’aire trimmings

Published by The Dreamstress

In preparation for the upcoming High Tea charity fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House I’m trimming my Indienne chintz pet-en-l’aire. I’ve dyed pretty new rayon and cotton ribbons (the closest I could get to silk) to replace the nasty synthetic ones on the front, and am figuring out how to do the ruffled trim. Earlier mid-18th century pet-en-l’aires, like this yellow example, have pinked ruffle trim: But later 18th century examples, the era I am aiming for, have flatter trim that is finished or turned on the edges: I’m trying to figure out exactly how the ruffles are made. I have 3.5 options to make the ruffles shown in the examples above: Option 1: The ruffles are cut in strips more than 2x the width of the ruffles, the sides are folded back and overlapped in the middle, and then the ruffles are sewn down, with the raw edges hidden on the middle underside of the ruffles. Option 2: The ruffles are cut in strips the width of the ruffles, plus turning allowance, and then the …

The 18th century man’s suit at the Honolulu Museum of Art

Published by The Dreamstress

One of the most glorious pieces I got to see at the Honolulu Museum of Art was a formal 18th century man’s suit, complete with breeches, waistcoat and coat. I suspect the outfit is French, and dates from about 1760, but menswear isn’t my area of expertise, so if you have a better idea, please let me know! The coat is of a three-dimensional pile fabric, probably a type of cisele velvet, with wine coloured velvet areas surrounding indented corded rectangles in muted gold. This type of fabric seems to have been very common in mid-late 18th century menswear. There is a similar but slightly later jacket here, an earlier jacket and waistcoat at the LACMA, another full suit at LAD, and a suit with a slightly confused dating was sold by Augusta Auctions in 2011. The embroidery is worked mainly in satin stitch with highlights in stem stitch and french knots. The silk embroidery threads are in shades of pale green, pale peach pink, sky blue, cream, aqua & yellow. It features roses, cornflowers, …