All posts tagged: 1660s

A dress for Ninon (because I’m really tired of pink pintucks)

Published by The Dreamstress

I’m really sick of pink pintucks.  And of sewing with a treadle machine.  And of wearing a corset to sew in.  Not to mention that wearing a corset every day is ruining my figure (you loose all your stomach muscles within a week!), so I’m taking a break from Emily’s dress. I have a good excuse to take a break from Emily too.  On July 23 I’m co-presenting a historical concert with The Historical Arts Trust: Grandeur & Frivolity: Music & Fashion from the Courts of Louis XIV and Louis XV. Oooooh! Obviously I need to add to my stock of Baroque and Rococo fashion, so it’s a great excuse to tackle a project I have drooled over for months: a 1660s gown for the celebrated 17th c French beauty, arts patron, and sometimes nun, sometimes courtesan,  Ninon  de l’Enclos. In yellow duchess satin, because I’m desperate to make a yellow dress. There are no portraits of Ninon done within her life, so I’m using a portrait of  Ã‰lisabeth d’Orleans as my main inspiration frock. …

Rate the Dress: Maria Terese in masque

Published by The Dreamstress

Your response to last week’s Rate the Dress surprised me. In the past, you have disapproved of children dressed in adult style clothes, so I assumed you would approve of the childlike cartoon print of the little girls dress, but condemn the elaborate construction and decoration of the dress. Instead, you liked the construction, but found the print frankly, well, ugly.  The dress did however, get the ultimate seal of approval: as a four year old, most of you would have loved it!  It rated a 6.2 out of 10 Today’s ‘Rate the Dress’ includes a child, but it is the adult who we are focused on.  Mignard depicts Maria Theresa of Spain (who is, coincidentally, most famous for having been painted as child by Velazquez) dressed for a masqued ball. She wears a dress of multiple rich fabrics in red, gold, black, and white, elaborately trimmed with ostrich feathers (shades of Sunday’s wedding dress!) and pearls. Maria Theresa, as a Queen of France, actually has a reputation for being exceedingly dull and boring, and …