All posts filed under: Rate the dress

Rate the Dress: a not-white 1890s Wedding Dress

Published by The Dreamstress

This week’s Rate the Dress, in contrast to the three that proceeded it, is quite muted and restrained, and not just one colour (though the primary fabric is admittedly equally monochromatic) Last week: a very green 1810s dress Some of you really loved last week’s dress, mostly because of the picture it brought into your mind of the young lady who would wear it, and how she would look dancing. Others, not so much, either because you didn’t like the colour, are opposed to small puffed sleeves on principle, or felt the hem treatment made it odd and bottom heavy. A number of people on instagram observed that if it was displayed as it would have been worn, with better petticoats, and the hem a good few inches off the ground, it would look less awkward and bottom heavy. The Total: 8.2 out of 10 Quite good, but not a patch on the week before it! This week:  an 1890s wedding dress is muted purple with cream and mouse-brown After three weeks of very bright …

Evening dress, 1810-1815, silk, Rueil-Malmaison, châteaux de Malmaison et Bois-Preau, M.M.2014.7.1

Rate the Dress: Regency ruffles and really green

Published by The Dreamstress

After two weeks of dresses that were very much one colour, I was determined to choose something a little more polychromatic this week. But as they say, the best laid plans… Last week:  a sunshine yellow and flowers robe a la anglaise General reaction to the dress: “Yes, yes, that fabric! And oooh, that back pattern matching! But…umm…not so happy about front non-matchingness. And the stomacher just isn’t doing it. But oh, that colour is so cheerful, and that fabric is so gorgeous, so…” The Total: 9.4 out of 10 Yay for yellow! This week:  a very green 1810s dress, I was determined to choose a Rate the Dress that didn’t feature such a single, strong, colour note. And then, when I went searching for the right thing, this dress chose itself. What could I do? Other than the colour, the aspect of this dress that instantly struck me is the hem treatment, with a ruched edging, as well as a gathered ruffle with piped centre. The hem treatment, with its slight variation in shades …

Robe à l'anglaise, England (Spitalfields), c. 1750. Yellow brocaded silk, woven with brightly coloured large-scale oriental poppies, posies and swags, the ground figured with arabesques and wine silk spotted cartouches, linen lining, trimmed with pinked furbelows; stomacher trimmed with rosettes and braid, sold by Kerry Taylor Auctions

Rate the Dress: Sunny, sunny yellow, ca 1750

Published by The Dreamstress

Today’s rate the dress is brought to you courtesy of the unprecedented heatwave that is hitting New Zealand. It’s so bright and sunny that I picked an equally bright and sunny dress to go with it – though I wouldn’t want to be wearing the heavy silk of this weeks Rate the Dress in the heat! Last week: a shot purple dress and matching cape A couple of you loved last weeks dress, but most people thought it was nice but not fantastic. Noted let-downs were the ‘seaweed-y’ trim, and that pesky centre front seam. Still, all the ratings were in the top half of the range, so I guess my comparisons to horrible purple rooms didn’t put you off too much – or you were feeling contrary so had to rate it well, simply because I made the comparison 😉 The Total: 8.3 out of 10 Middling. This week: I’m rather famous/notorious for being a fan of yellow, and I try not to lean into that too much with Rate the Dress. I wouldn’t …