All posts filed under: 19th Century

Rate the Dress: Purple, Orange & Green in the early 1870s

Last week you were firmly in two camps about Worth Jr’s Arabian escape – either you loooooved it, or were really quite indifferent. As happens when there are distinctly divided groups, the actual rating is a score that few gave the dress: 8.6 out of 10. It’s certainly a step up for JP! As long as we’re being brave, how about something a bit brighter? This English dress from 1872-75 from the Metropolitan Museum of Art combines lilac, palest spring green, with touches of vivid orange in a meticulously trimmed dress. Quite unusual! As often happens, how we read the colours depends on lighting. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which option is closer to the real thing, and if you like either. The touches of orange in the trim seem quite random until you see a detail of the dress: Then it becomes obvious that the dressmaker carefully picked out the colour of the small orange flowers in the lilac silk, and referenced it in the trim. What do you think? Was …

Terminology: What is a balmoral petticoat?

Published by The Dreamstress

We all know about Queen Victoria’s obsession with Scotland and her castle in Balmoral, and how this led to the name ‘Balmoral’ being applied to all sorts of fashion items. One of these was the balmoral petticoat. The balmoral petticoat was a coloured petticoat that was intended to show at the hem of a drawn-up skirt for walking and sportswear in the 1860s and 1870s. The balmoral petticoat could be worn over a hoopskirt or crinoline or have hoops built into the petticoat, and (according to some sources) include a horsehair stiffener as part of the petticoat itself. The most common Balmoral petticoat was red wool, often with 2-4 black stripes running around the hem. Later in the 1860s there are mentions of balmoral petticoats in plaid or striped wool, and even cotton balmoral petticoats in the Americas. The petticoat was said to originate at Balmoral, with writers in the 1890s claiming that during the 1860s royals at Balmoral wore high laced boots (Balmoral boots), scarlet petticoats, and their skirts drawn up to walking length …

Rate the Dress: Worth Jr plays with gold embroidery

Published by The Dreamstress

Sometimes I think I should find a way to tally not just the ratings that are given in my ‘Rate the Dresses’, but also the ratings that weren’t given. After all, if you can’t even be bothered to comment on a garment, that’s a much worse criticism than being moved to pillory it. Such was the case with Marie Christine last week. Most of the ratings were quite complimentary, but there were so few that I suspect many of you found it too bland to be of interest. I’m afraid I agree – the dress/Brunswick was boring, the sleeves awkward and bulky with their double flounces, the headdress and necklace overdone and awkward, but oh, that lace fichu! And the elegant apron! And that dear, dear little spinning wheel! Perhaps that’s not what you loved, but you gave it an 8.1 out of 10. This week I return to something more likely to prove of universal interest: turn-of-the-century Worth. In the past you have not always been so complimentary of Worth Jr’s creations. Perhaps this …