All posts tagged: 1820s

Rate the Dress: An uber-romantic print for the romance era

Last week there were mixed responses to the 1912 dress with its daring mix of colours and drape and details. Personally, I thought it was lovely, but not quite perfect – the bodice seemed quite awkward and clunky compared to the divinely sophisticated skirt. I would give it an 8 out of 10, and apparently you collectively agreed with me, because that’s exactly what you gave it! This week I’m returning to a classic, uncomplicated silhouette, and a classic, uncomplicated colour scheme, to see if you prefer your fashions challenging and avante-gard or a little more sweet and simple. I’m mixing it up by throwing in a not-quite-as-popular timeperiod; the Romantic era late 1820s. Romantic fashions are characterised by their puffy sleeves, poofed hairdoes, and nipped waist, often combined with really boring fabrics in shades of dun and sand, but this dress from the MFA also has very romantic silk fabric strewn with carnations and roses in blue and pink on chocolate brown. How sweet! How simple! So what do you think? Is this so …

A brave, sad trip

Published by The Dreamstress

In 1823 Liholiho, Kamehameha II, the 2nd King of unified Hawaii, chartered a boat and set off for England, along with his wife, Queen Kamamalu, and a party of other Hawaiian nobles. Can you imagine how daring and adventurous this was? Liholiho was born in the 18th century, when Hawaii was just beginning to have contact with the West. His exact birth date is not even recorded, and he barely spoke English. Sea travel was still a long, arduous, and dangerous endeavor. And yet Liholiho was determined to go; to see and understand the world that was beginning to to have such an effect on his kingdom. He and his entourage set off in the L’Aigle, stopping in Brazil to meet Emperor Pedro I, and arriving in London in May 1824. Liholiho and Kamamalu were welcomed by the Foreign Secretary, had balls and receptions thrown in their honour, and toured all of London’s top sites. Everywhere they went they caused a stir; travel was still so difficult that foreign royalty were still a huge novelty, …

Rate the dress: Maria Josepha of Saxony

Published by The Dreamstress

Gah! I’ve been having bad luck with my Rate the Dress selections lately. I saw a great one, bookmarked it to go back later and get the picture, went to write my post, and the site is down and I can’t find the picture. To fill in the gap, I’ve gone with the theme of ‘bad luck’, as it suits both last week’s dress and the subject of this week’s dress. Last week’s very colourful Rate the Dress‘s bad luck was that you did not approve of it, either because of the colour or because of the ruffles of the lower skirt. It rated a 5.9 out of 10 For our bad luck lady, I present Maria Josepha of Saxony. Nope, it’s not Marie Antoinette’s mother in law (the one she never met), this is a different Maria Josepha of Saxony, two generations later. Maria Josepha’s bad life began early in life – she lost her mother as an infant. She herself died, young, and without any children, at 26. Her other bad luck was …