All posts filed under: 19th Century

Rate the Dress: peaches and daisies in the late 1860s

Gosh, all my Rate the Dress selections have been doing so well lately! Even when I pick ensembles I think you will all hate you like them! I wasn’t sure what you would make of the 1917 golfing togs last week, but despite a few dismal ratings, it still managed a respectable 7.3 out of 10 – not bad for a difficult period and a saucepan hat! Let’s see if I can do it again this week. You often like 1860s, but this reception dress for sale on antique-frock.com is quite specific in its design details and colouring. What do you think? Is palest grey with peach and black daisy trim working for you? Do you like the neck ruffles and skirt pleats? The curtain effect on the skirt front? Will this be a smash hit, or should we bring the curtain down? Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

A historical account of the perils of dyeing

Published by The Dreamstress

This story comes to you courtesy of the Grey River Argus, 13 June 1883. A lieutenant in the Russian Army, and a Count pardessus le marche, having paid marked attention to the prettiest girl in Moscow, her father, by profession a dyer, asked him if his intentions were honorable or otherwise. As the young nobleman’s reply was evasive (says an exchange), the worthy dyer naturally concluded that they were otherwise, and requested that he bestow his attentions elsewhere. The young gallant kept out of the way for some time, but at last passion got the better of prudence, and he re-commenced his flirtation with the dyer’s pretty daughter during the absence of her worthy sire. The inevitable occurred. Papa surprised the lovers, and without much ado collared the young warrior, doused him in the first handy vat of dye, and then reasoned with him a posteriori. When the Count got home he discovered that neither cold water nor hot, neither spirits of wine nor benzine, neither soap nor silver sand, would remove his new complexion …

Terminology: What is a Cromwell Buckle (or Cromwell Shoe)?

Published by The Dreamstress

Do you love historical shoes? I LOVE historical shoes. After all, they combine two of my favourite things: shoes and historical fashions. For this week’s terminology post, let’s look at a a historical shoe term: the Cromwell buckle & shoe and its stylistic relatives. Basically, a Cromwell buckle is an ornamental buckle of metal (often cut steel, and sometimes nickel or pewter) on the front of a shoe. In addition to the sparkly cut steel the buckle might be ornamented with paste jewels. A Cromwell shoe is obviously the shoe worn with the decorative buckle. Cromwell shoes are generally somewhat 18th century inspired, and usually have medium to high heels. A variant of the Cromwell shoe is the Moliere shoe, which sported a slightly lower heel, and a slightly turned-up toe (though it seems likely that which you chose to call your shoe depended more on the date and your location than the actual style). Notoriously, Moliere shoes were worn by the first known victim of Joshep Vacher: the French Jack the Ripper. Another variant …