This week Rate the Dress is going from not-a-polonaise to actually-a-polonaise, with dresses separated in time by a century.  Last week’s was exquisitely presented, this week’s choice less so – but hopefully you’ll find it no less worthy of comment. Last week: a painted silk ca 1780s not-a-polonaise. You thought this dress was practically perfect in every way: it even racked up a total of 360 points: a round of applause if I ever saw one!  It lost a few points for the not-matched but not-not matched bodice, which I quite expected.  But otherwise…pretty much fabulous. The Total: 9.5/10 Woot woot! This week: Since last week’s dress wasn’t an actual polonaise, I thought I’d pick a real one this week.  Not a real 18th century polonaise dress, but one from another era that used the term. 1870s and 1880s ‘polonaise’ dresses were bustle dresses with the bodice and bustling overskirt cut in one, and the bustling overskirt opening over the (often contrasting) underskirt in a V, inspired by 18th century dresses which opened over petticoats. …

From bold stripes to delicate embroidery, from bell shapes to slinky slim numbers: we’re shaking things up on Rate the Dress with a Titanic era gown with two formal bodice options. How will the rating shake out in comparison? Last week: 1850s purple stripes and tassels Well.  It got compared to a circus tent.  Multiple times.  And lots of you really, really don’t like tassels.  And false fronts.  And the purple was hardly universally popular – not to mention there were diametrically opposite opinions about which possible shade was better! Some of you even disliked it so much that I had to remove a comment because it veered into being mean and insulting to people who did like the dress.  🙁  Please remember to be respectful of other commenter’s right to have different taste from you in Rate the Dress.  The fun is seeing how we all ‘see’ a dress: no one’s opinion is wrong. While most of you weren’t huge fans, it also got called ‘luscious’, and some of you thought it was really …