All posts tagged: 17th century

Rate the Dress: the embellished man of 1673

Last week most of you loooooved the late 1870s gold dress, with its asymmetry and embellishment. But some of you found the asymmetry off-putting, or the restrained colour a bit dull, dragging the rating down to 7.4 out of 10. I actually really wanted to show you something 1930s this week – something bright and modern and Art Deco. But I couldn’t find a single garment that took my fancy, so I’ve decided on a Rate the Dress that is a retaliation against other clothing that doesn’t take my fancy: modern menswear. Modern male clothing is sadly devoid of embellishment, but that hasn’t always been the case. This 1670s formal suit from the V&A, worn to the wedding of James, Duke of York, is extremely embellished, with almost every surface covered in gilt embroidery. Despite this, the suit looks subdued, but this is a bit misleading: the green background fabric has faded at least a few shades, and would have contrasted with the vivid flame (that quintessential later half of the 17th century colour) cuffs, …

Rate the Dress: The Countess as Flora in 1613 (ok, sort of)

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week a lot of you loooooooved the Poiret negligee gown. And then, predictably, some of you were less than enthused about the daring colours. Less predictably, some of you got hung up on the tassle, insisting the wearer would trip over it (you could clearly see the hemline behind it, no tripping happening there). Despite this perplexing criticism, the dress managed a 8.2 out of 10 – quite good for something so avant garde. I had the hardest time finding a Rate the Dress for this week. I wanted to keep with the theme of _13 for the Bi/Tri/Quadri/Quin/Sex/Septi/Octo/Nona/Centennial Challenge, but simply couldn’t find a _13 garment that I hadn’t already featured and which appealed to me. I finally settled on this 1611 portrait of the noted beauty Frances Howard (this one, not the notorious Frances Howard) by Gheeraerts, with the assumption that there is every chance that the Countess would have been wearing the same items in 1613 (backed up by evidence that that definitely happened in this post). Gheeraerts paints Frances in …

Rate the Dress: Maria Anna does geometry

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week you were surprisingly positive about the black and gold Regency frock. Many of you noticed the bee/bug resemblence, and you actually approved of it! The dress rated an 8.1 out of 10. This week, I thought it was high time I posted a full portrait, where you could consider the dress and the way it fits the wearer’s looks and personality. This is Maria Anna of Spain, who was considered as a potential bride to Charles I of England, and was instead married to her cousin Ferdinand III. Maria Anna was everything you could want in a 17th century princess: pretty, without being so attractive as to cause jealousy or tempt a king into an unwise match; even tempered and happy, more than capable of balancing her gloomy husband’s moods; a competent ruler when called upon to serve as her husbands regent, but not tempted by more power, like her sister Anne of Austria. Also unlike Anne, she had no problem producing the raft of heirs that was the ultimate mark of success …