All posts tagged: 17th century

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 …

Rate the Dress: a 17th century Woman in Red

Published by The Dreamstress

Almost all of you loved last week’s 1910ish Rate the Dress, but those who found it a little fussy, or the neckline a little high, or the bodice a little odd dragged the rating down from a high 9 to a 8.7 out of 10. I’ve belatedly realised that something a little Christmas-y might have been a good pick for Rate the Dress, so to keep in the spirit (better late than never), here is a holiday appropriate red and white dress for a pregnant woman. The only sombre note to this ornate ensemble is the black ribbon on her wrist, a memento commemorating someone who had died (hopefully not the father of her unborn child!). How do you feel about the outfit?  I’ve never done maternity wear before, so it is interesting to see what you will make of the shortened bodice, the red petticoat paired with the white top, and the elaborate patterning and lace trimming. Rate the dress on a scale of 1 to 10