Last week I showed you a mid 18th c dress in yellow floral brocade with a link to a very interesting story (which, interestingly, not a one of you commented on!).  You generally found the dress extremely nice, with a few reservations in regards to the petticoat trim, but only one of you  loved it enough to give it a 10, so rated it an 8.4 out of 5.  I wonder if the duke’s banyan would have done better! For this  week’s Rate the Dress I’m staying  with the 18th c and 18th c inspired theme, with a Charles Worth reception dress that is a prime example of the way 18th c fashions influenced 1880s styles, so much so that we often don’t notice the influence, because it became part of the standard 1880s dress vernacular. This ensemble, either in deep, rich wine reds, or classic tomato reds, depending on which picture you believe, features lace cuffs on the elbow-length sleeves that are a very obvious nod to 18th c engageantes.  Further lace and  beaded …

Last week I showed a 1910s dress featuring draping in robin’s egg blue brocade and white lace.  Some of you loved it, only one of you hated it, and most of you found the fabric divine, but felt that the fabric handling was just a bit beyond the skill of the dressmaker, and the whole effect left the dress feeling unresolved and quite provincial. It came in at a 6.9 out of 10, which is basically the Rate the Dress equivalent of saying “Well, good on you for trying”.  (and also, someone noticed that the skirt slit means it should  be added to the infamous Rate the Dress gallery of ‘dresses-that-look-disturbingly-anatomical-from-certain-angles (and ones by Charles James that look purposefully and unabashedly anatomical from all angles)’ ) This week I present another dress that features asymmetrical  skirt  draping, though this wedding dress, from an era when white was slightly less ubiquitous as a bridal colour, executes them in perfectly matched aubergine satin and damask, with taffeta ribbons and dark lace in complementary hues, rather than contrasting …

Last week I showed you an 1820s fashion plate featuring a the epitome of youth and sweetness in ballgown form.  Combined with the model’s  expression, I call it the ‘Someday my Prince will come’ dress.  There were the usual complaints about not liking to rate fashion plates because they aren’t fully developed dresses.  I think makes fashion  even more rateable, because we get to see the idea of a fashion at its most extreme and pristine, rather than a fashion adulterated by the skill of the seamstress, the preferences and body shape of the wearer, and the ravages of time.  (So no, I’m not going to stop showing fashion plates, and please humour me and either rate them or just keep quiet about it).  And it was certainly interesting to see the interpretations of the dress depending on exactly what fabric you imagined it in – and the comparisons to extant gowns of similar fabric and trims.  A most fascinating discussion! Overall, while a few of you really liked the dress for its iconically 1820s …