Last week: An 1890s dress with a sexy silhouette and an eye-catching colour.
I try not to influence the rating with my description and analysis of the featured garment, but it’s impossible not to. Last week’s dress was the perfect example. I can’t imagine it would have gotten quite so positive a reception had I not waxed poetic about how that style of dress had influenced Hawai’ian fashion.
Even so, it was a divisive dress: some of you loved how modern and unexpected the fabric was, some of you didn’t. And no one was really a fan of the odd lace and unbalanced velvet, though some felt it was still fabulous enough for a perfect 10.
I did love Natalie’s commentary on the trims: “The saturated purple and the main fabric pattern are yummy, like a ripe plum on the tree, and that pop of green is super. Velvet ribbon trim is oh-so-1890s and early 1900s; fashionable wear used it lavishly and I have some amusing quotes about the proclivity of teen girls to trimming everything with it till they were positively fluttering.”
The Total: 7.6 out of 10
I’ll be honest, that’s better than I thought it would do!
This week: 1880s jewel tones, velvet, and lots of beading
This episode’s choice for Rate the Dress could not be less suitable for Hawai’i if it tried:
Visiting outfit, ca 1885, silk velvet & silk ottoman, sold by Tessier-Sarrou-et-Associes
Although, Hawai’i does have tall mountains that get cold, and the Hawai’ian monarchy wore some pretty spectacular 1880s fashions, so perhaps it could work after all…
Visiting outfit, ca 1885, silk velvet & silk ottoman, sold by Tessier-Sarrou-et-Associes
And the triangular repeat of the beading is very reminiscent of the type of patterns seen on kapa and in Hawai’ian woodcarving, although I very much doubt that is what the designer and maker of this garment was using as inspiration!
Visiting outfit, ca 1885, silk velvet & silk ottoman, sold by Tessier-Sarrou-et-Associes
I actually went on the opposite emotional journey with this ensemble that I did with last week’s dress. When I saw last week’s dress my first thought was ‘urgh!’, but then the unexpected fabric grew on me, and I noticed the subtlety of the torso draping, and I realised how much it was the style of garment that influenced Hawai’ian attire. In contrast, my initial reaction to this week’s visiting ensemble was delight, but the more I’ve looked at it, the less I like it. I can’t quite put my finger on why.
Visiting outfit, ca 1885, silk velvet & silk ottoman, sold by Tessier-Sarrou-et-Associes
Is it too elaborate and decorated and imposing? Too much a dress to show off in?
Or am I just crazy and is this actually the peak of all that is glorious and beautiful?
Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10
A reminder about rating — feel free to be critical if you don’t like a thing, but make sure that your comments aren’t actually insulting to those who do like a garment. Phrase criticism as your opinion, rather than a flat fact. Our different tastes are what make Rate the Dress so interesting. It’s no fun when a comment implies that anyone who doesn’t agree with it, or who would wear a garment, is totally lacking in taste.
As usual, nothing more complicated than a .5. I also hugely appreciate it if you only do one rating, and set it on a line at the very end of your comment.
So I went foraging around Wellington for autumn leaves (harder than you’d think – our woods are, thankfully, mostly natives, but all NZ native trees are evergreen), and adapted Hawai’ian haku lei making techniques to make up two wreaths using twisted brown paper bags and crochet twine instead of banana bark and raffia.
