Is she trying to seduce the statue with her shawl? Or does she disprove of the statue’s bare bust? Or is she just confused by it? And why are the arms lying on the floor!?! So many questions…
Madge vs. Venus
I do, however like the way you can see how her stockings make dents in her legs above her knees. It’s reassuring.
A while ago someone asked me about Regency sandals. Why do we see so many in fashion plates, but so few extent pairs?
Well, I suspect the ratio is quite similar to most items seen in fashion plates vs. extent items. Fashion plates (and fashion magazines today) always show the most avant -garde and extreme fashion, and few ladies ever reached that level of modish dress.
In addition, contemporary sources seem to indicate that wearing sandals was rather noteworthy, and maybe just a little bit scandalous, so there probably was a lot more talking about them than actually owning and wearing them.
We can see the scandalousness conotations of sandals illustrated in the famous Boilly image of a rakish Incroyable meeting his female counterpart, the Merveilleuse. In her transparent dress even the radical Incroyable mistakes her for a prostitute and offers her money, while she shows a modesty not apparent in her attire and makes the sign of a cross with her fingers to indicate her shock and virtue.
Louis Leopold Boilly, Incroyable et Merveilleuse in Paris, 1797
While they are hard to find, there must have been a few naughty woman, as there are some extent pairs of Regency sandals, just not very many. And a few pairs of almost sandals. And then some that are probably not actually Regency sandals at all.
Here is a darling pink pair from the Met:
Shoes, 1806-15, E. Pattison (British, 1800—1850), Met Museum, 2001.576ab
And a white satin-over leather pair from the Bata Shoe Museum (image from Dawn Luckham and the Regency Society of America boards):
Silk and leather sandals, 1795-1805, Bata Shoe Museum
And a red leather pair from the Manchester City Galleries:
Red leather sandals, 1800-1825, Mancherster City Galleries
A lot of Regency sandals are really more like slippers with elaborate lacing patterns.
Pair of 'Grecian Sandals' in a shoe bag, circa 1818, England, LACMA
This pair of slipper-sandals from the MFA Boston is quite cunning, if barely sandal-like:
Sandal slippers, 1810-15, MFA Boston, 99.664.37a-b
This gorgeously detailed pair is slightly more sandal like:
Sandals, ca 1805-10 France (worn in America), MFA Boston
This fashion plate shows a similar laced slipper. Was it the proper woman’s alternative to the sandal?
Morning dress, London, Sept 1798
In the category of not actually Regency sandals at all, Te Papa has a pair that are listed as ca 1800, but I have inspected them in person myself, and suspect they are actually early 20th century Scottish dancing shoes, which is probably why they aren’t included in their online catalogue!
I’m supposed to be on the beach on the Sunshine Coast in Australia not worrying about blogs and students and sewing (and hopefully not spiders or snakes or sociopaths either), but I have wireless internet, so I’ve been naughty and added up the ratings for last weeks daring 1830s ‘sexy sailor’ costume.
Unfortunately it seems that most of you were too confused too comment, and those of you who did just rated it on aesthetics, since you couldn’t figure out the costume. What was the outfit supposed to be? Aesthetically it divided you, with most of you either loving or hating it, bringing it in at a middle-of-the-road 6.4 out of 10
Hopefully this week’s rate the dress, a striking 1912 frock from the Italian costume collection Abiti Antichi, will leave you neither confused nor uninterested.
Evening dress, ca 1912, Abiti Antichi
Evening dress back, ca 1912, Abiti Antichi
The display and presentation of this evening dress may not be ideal, but you can still clearly see the daring combination of gold silk satin with tone-on-tone embroidery, black velvet and net trim, iridescent beading, and a flash of teal at the waist.
Do the colours work for you? What about the swoop of structural skirts contrasting with the more detailed, embellished bodice? Does it all harmonise into a perfect design, or is it a mis-match of too many different elements?
Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10
