All posts filed under: 19th Century

The 20th Century Girl

Oh the 20th century girl! What a wonderful thing she will be! She’ll evolve from a mystical whirl A woman unfettered and free; No corset to crampen her waist, No crimps to encumber her brain: Unafraid, bifurcated, unlaced, Like a goddess of old she will reign! She’ll wear bloomers a matter of course; She will vote not a question, of doubt; She will ride like a man on a horse; At a club late at night she’ll stay out; If she chances to love she’ll propose; To blush will be quite out of date, She’ll talk politics with her beaux And out talk her masculine mate. She’ll be up in the science of things; She will smoke cigarettes; she will swear If the servant a dunning note brings, Or the steak isn’t done to her care. No longer she’ll powder her nose, Or cultivate even a curl, Nor bother with fashion or clothes, This 20th century girl. Her voice will be heard in the land; She’ll dabble in matters of State; In Council her word …

Trying my hand at hatmaking

Published by The Dreamstress

I’ve always intended to try a bit of millinery, or at least hat alteration, so last week I finally took the plunge. I decided to start with something really simple, a 1872 summer hat from the Met’s collection: You can’t really get any simpler than that, right? I thought it would go nicely with the frills of my 1871 pink extravaganza afternoon ensemble. So I trotted off to an op shop and bought myself a decent straw hat. It looked like this: Unfortunately I forgot to double-check my inspiration picture, so I got one with a wide braid instead of a narrow. No matter, I could still make it work. First thing: take off that hideous raffia ribbon! Then I picked apart the braid at the bottom of the crown. My inspiration hat has such a shallow crown that I could save the whole original brim and use it for another hat, and make the tiny brim of my inspiration hat from the bottom of the crown. Then I started sewing, turning my loose braid …

A thoroughly calculated wedding: Napoleon III and Eugenie

Published by The Dreamstress

One of the things that studying royal weddings teaches you (very quickly!) is that romance often had very little to do with marriage, even among those monarchs who could choose their own spouse, and who claimed to marry for romance. The best example of this is the “romance” and marriage of Napoleon III and Eugenie de Montijo. Napoleon III was a notorious womaniser, and Eugenie was a notorious virgin – notorious for such because she refused to enter into affairs for reasons that were more strategically based than morally based. Eugenie and Napoleon first met in the early 1850s when he was president of France. The Spanish Eugenie was in Paris on a husband-hunting tour of Europe, and was the toast of the town for her beauty and grace. Naturally, Napoleon was intrigued, and began to pursue Eugenie, to no avail. One didn’t catch a husband by becoming the mistress of the President of France. Even once Napoleon staged a coup and became Emperor, Eugenie was not swayed. By all accounts the young Eugenie …