All posts filed under: 19th Century

Rate the dress: red, floral, and stripes in the 1890s

UPDATE: (hey, look! She finally had time to tally the scores from last week) So, last week most of you thought the embroidered mull Regency evening gown was the very epitome of Regency evening gowns, and your ratings depended on whether you thought that was a good thing or not. Did epitome mean perfect example, or boringly typical example? And do you even like Regency evening gowns in the first place? Well, it appears you do, and while not perfect, it came in at 8.5 out of 10. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I know. I’m running really late with this Rate the Dress. I haven’t even tallied the votes for last week’s Regency yet. I’ll get those up in a bit, but I want to at least get you a dress for now! So here you go. The last few Rate the Dresses have been pretty subdued colour-wise. Time for something a little brighter, such as this printed dotted-swiss day-dress from the FIDM. There is a lot going on in this dress: patterning over dotted swiss, stripes over …

Rate the dress: Embroidered mull

Published by The Dreamstress

So. Sigismund III. Badass or just bad? Well, between the fez, the collar, the hose, and the scimitar, almost everyone said his outfit made them giggle. And yet, for all that, it made a 7.3 out of 10. Pretty good for so many giggles! This week lets go from dark and badass to light and sweet. I find Regency frocks so appealing. They are so simple and pure and youthful in their barely-adorned whiteness. Of course the problem with Regency frocks is that they are often so similar, and simple and pure and unadorned, that they don’t make for a very interesting Rate the Dress. I’ve tried to get around this by posting really unusual examples, or portraits with accessories, but sometimes you just want to show a simple dress. So here is a Regency frock from the MFA Boston that hopefully is still a classic example of Regency fashion, without being too uninteresting. This white mull cotton evening dress from the early 19th century features a gathered bodice, short puffed sleeves, a narrow …

Terminology: what is a burnous?

Published by The Dreamstress

The burnous, both in name and design, is of Arab origin, and describes a full, hooded cloak, often decorated with embroidery and tassels. It can also be spelled burnoose and bournouse. The burnous was introduced to Western fashion through the Spahi, the French calvary troops of from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, whose uniforms included burnous. The Spahi began in the 1830s, and saw extensive action throughout the 19th century. This, combined with photographs of the Spahi troops in their burnous taken by Roger Fenton in the 1850s popularised their image in the West, and started the fashion for the cloaks. Burnouses fit well with mid-19th century fashion, as the loose shape was easy to wear over large hoopskirts, and the hoods mimicked the bonnets that were worn with daywear, or could even fit over the bonnet. A 1859 fashion article describes burnouses: These are made frequently in cachemire, in broad Algerienne stripes, or in light coloured cachemire, wadded and trimmed with plaid, and also in black silk trimmed with plaid, or plain velvet, plaited ribbon …