The dress is notable for featuring one of Lucile’s most famous touches: pulled up or slit skirts which revealed large expanses of [stockinged] legs. Lucile said “If I never did anything else in my life, I showed that a woman’s leg can be a thing of beauty, instead of a ‘limb,’ spoken of only in the privacy of a fitting room.”
I’ve got a real soft-spot for ca. 1880’s fashion. Of course, some examples of the era pull off the ridiculousness better than others. Will this week’s Rate the Dress tickle your fancy?
This week on Rate the Dress we’re looking at a ca. 1860 plaid day dress. Just like last week’s 1780s francaise it combines a very classic silhouette of its era with a few interesting design elements. Last Week: a 1770-80 française in green striped silk Oooh, you did like last week’s dress… The lowest rating was an 8, and the only complaints people had was that the stripes were a little cucumber-y. In an amazing bit of synchronisity to the melon comments, a friend just learned about the Hawai’ian ae-ae banana, and sent me a photo of a stalk in just these colours. The Total: 9.8 out of 10 That is really almost perfect! This week: a ca. 1860 dress in stripey plaid This day dress is an excellent example of its time. It shows fashion just moving from the round crinoline of the 1850s into the elliptical hoop silhouette that would dominate the 1860s. It’s a dress in two parts, with a seperate bodice and skirt. The bodice features front buttons, a small …
