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Rate the Dress: a proper polonaise dress

Published by The Dreamstress

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.  The  overall aesthetic as well as the use of the term ‘polonaise’ was a deliberate nod to the 18th century.

Bustle dress, silk, 1880s, August Auctions, Lot 356, May 9, 2017

Bustle dress, silk, 1880s, August Auctions, Lot 356, May 9, 2017

Victorian polonaise gowns were just one part of the Georgian revivalism so fashionable in the second half of the 18th century (other examples I’ve covered are 1870s  Louis heels, 1860s-80s Pompadour fabrics or Pompadour taffeta,  and 1860s bergere , but they have contributed to the modern confusion around ‘robe a la polonaise’ dresses.

The front of this dress, with its open bodice front that evokes a stomacher, and open skirt, is classic Victorian polonaise.  The back view is a little less straightforward: the butterfly bustle on this 1880s gown could just as easily be referencing 17th century mantua as late 18th century pick-ups.

Bustle dress, silk, 1880s, August Auctions, Lot 356, May 9, 2017

Bustle dress, silk, 1880s, August Auctions, Lot 356, May 9, 2017

This dress is an example I’d love to see given a full museum treatment and presentation.  Auction houses are under significant time and financial constraints, so their mannequins and steaming are less than ideal, and it’s definitely not doing this dress any favours.

Bustle dress, silk, 1880s, August Auctions, Lot 356, May 9, 2017

I know it’s not the ideal presentation, but let’s not hold that against the dress.  What do you think of it?

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.  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 can find it!  Thanks in advance!)

Ramsay to Renoir Fashion History Talk, 18/8/2018, Richmond, Nelson

Ramsay to Renoir: I’m coming down to Nelson for a fashion history talk!

Published by The Dreamstress

I’m very pleased to announce that I’ll be in Nelson on Saturday the 18th of August to give a charity talk on behalf of Life Linc.

Life Linc is a fantastic charity that provides very low cost professional counselling within Nelson & Tasman.

Mental health support is a cause that is particularly close to home for me.  A few years ago I struggled with a period of extremely severe depression.  At the time, I had very little disposable income.  Heavily discounted counselling through a charity helped me to cope with the depression, to identify what was triggering it, and eventually to find a way move out of it.  I’m incredibly lucky to have been able to keep a reasonably even keel since, but it’s because of the tools I was given in counselling: I’m aware of what my triggers are, what I need to be happy and balanced, and know how to re-set myself if my emotions start going pear shaped.

Because of my own experience, I know how incredibly valuable counselling can be, and I’m honoured to be able to give back to a charity that does such amazing work.

In Ramsay to Renoir I’ll be exploring intersection between art & fashion in my usual way: with models in historical dress that will help a series of famous artworks out of the frame, and into life.  I’m very excited about the talk: it’s such a fun topic, and I’m going to use it as an excuse to debut a new dress.  If you’re in the Nelson area I do hope you can make it!

Ramsay to Renoir:

 Art steps out of the frame and into life in a charity talk in support of LifeLinc

August 18

2pm

Richmond Town Hall
Cambridge Street, Richmond

$26 plus service fee

Tickets from Theatre Royal and TicketDirectph. 03 548 3840.

Ph. 03 548340
tickets@theatreroyalnelson.co.nz

 

If you’re in New Zealand and can’t attend the talk, but would still like to donate to Life Linc, you can do it by direct deposit or cheque.

Unfortunately Life Linc Nelson is not set up to process donations from overseas at the moment.

Robe à la Polonaise, ca. 1780, French, silk, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1976.146a, b

Rate the Dress: painted pick-ups, 18th century style

Published by The Dreamstress

Apologies for the delay in a Rate the Dress post.  It has just been a significantly busier week than I anticipated.  Better late than never, Rate the Dress is back on track with an 18th century confection featuring hand painted silk and a bustled skirt.  How will it fare…

Last week: a 1910s number in embroidered pink chiffon

I watched the comments come in for last week’s Rate the Dress.  When I thought back to them this week, I thought the final total must be pretty dismal: I had such a strong memory of dislike.  But when I looked back over them, and tallied the total, I realised that most people actually liked-to-loved the dress.  There were just a couple of people who really did not like it, and their reaction was so strong that it really coloured my memory of the comments.

The Total: 8.8 out of 10

Like I said, mostly like-to-love!

This week:

Because it’s been such a busy week, my Rate the Dress pick isn’t particularly inventive.  Just a classic 18th century Robe à  la Anglaise  in a floral fabric in a range of pretty pastel shades (or not pretty – you get to be the judge of that!).

An Anglaise is an 18th century dress style with a fitted back bodice, with the central upper back pieces cut in one with the centre back skirt, with no waist seam.

This Anglaise features picked-up or bustled skirts, which used to be referred to as Polonaise in the historical costuming world, and still is in many museums, including the Met.  Historical costume researchers have since determined that ‘Polonaise’ referred to a specific cut of bodice – not the bustling of the skirt.  So this is not really a Robe a la Polonaise, but I’ve left the Met’s title as-is.

This makes total sense: almost any dress could have its overskirts picked up and bustled: why change the entire name of a gown when you do this?

The fabric of the dress appears to be a hand-painted silk, probably from China.  The mis-matching on the seams indicated that the fabric was pre-painted, and not intended for this specific dress style.  It’s also possibly that the dress was re-made from a gown of a few decades earlier.

Depending on how you look at it, this 18th century pick is either Rate the Dress in its purest (a dress only, almost totally devoid of styling and accessories, and thus completely without distraction), or least pure (a dress only, almost totally devoid of styling and accessories, and thus furthest removed from how it would have been worn in period) form.

What do you think of it?

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.  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 can find it!  Thanks in advance!)

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