All posts filed under: 19th Century

Rate the Dress: Batgirl goes Victorian

I suspect that y’all found last week’s featured Cranach rather boring. Seven votes in it, and it rated a 7.8. I grovel in front of you and humbly beg your apologies. And then cross my fingers and hope like heck that you don’t find this weeks Rate the Dress equally boring. It is, after all, a fashion sketch, in black and white. But oh, such an interesting subject! It’s an 1880’s batgirl costume! What do you think? Are short, pleated skirts, and bats at bust, temple, and shoe fronts fabulous, or fail-worthy? Rate the dress on a scale of 1 to 10

Those crazy Victorians – take 3: Sanitary toe socks

Published by The Dreamstress

Remember toe socks? Those 70’s monstrosities that became a fad again in the 1990s? It turns out they weren’t a new invention! Click on the image to learn more than you ever wanted to know about weird Victorian health regimens. I now must find a way to incorporate toe socks into a steampunk ensemble. I wonder if you could have steampunk-esque slippers? Or sandals? In an awful way, I’m liking the idea of ‘crunchy’ steampunk. Enter the steampunk hippies! * If you are wondering what ‘Take 1’ and ‘Take 2’ were, check out these posts.

Rate the Dress: Maria Alexandranova in double

Published by The Dreamstress

No one could agree on anything from last week’s Rate the Dress. Some loved the colours, some didn’t. Some thought the sleeves too big, others adored them. The low neckline and high camisa were popular with some readers, and deemed awkward by others. And while some of you thought the model looked astonishingly modern and real, others found her a bit, well, red-eyed vampirish. All in all, Bronzini’s Lady in Green rated an 8.4 out of 10. This week I present something entirely unprecedented: one woman, in one ensemble, as portrayed by two different artists. You already know the artists and the model as you have rated Maria Alexandrovna in the past (she got a 6.5). Both Winterhalter and Ivan Makarov painted Maria Alexandrovna (yes, the Victorian Kristen Stewart) in a muted ensemble, lavishly trimmed in lace, and draped in pearls. I haven’t been able to determine if one portrait was taken from the other, or if both painters painted Maria from life (and if so, at the same time?). Certainly the poses and fall …