I’d intended this week’s pick for Christmas week, but it felt so right for this week you’re getting it early. I guess I’ll have to find something different and fun for next week! Last Week:  a blue velvet robe de style by Poiret There was much discussion about last week’s dress and whether it was back to front on the mannequin, with most people leaning towards a high likelyhood that it was indeed on backwards. So, the dress was backwards, and the ratings were divided: if I broke the high scores and low scores in half at 6, We’d have two ratings: one of 9, and one of 4. But since I do a mean rating…. The Total: 7.7 out of 10 Sometimes the mean does not reflect the mode! This week:  a natural form era in red silk with rosettes and roses Last week’s dress was all about simplicity and innovation. This week’s dress is anything but simple: It is, however, from another era that was all about experimentation and invention. The late 1870s …

I missed Rate the Dress last week because I had too much on – which was not the case for the dress and spencer themselves, which you deemed almost perfectly decorated. This week I’m pushing the ‘how much can you put on a dress’ envelope – but in a surprisingly restrained way. Last Week: an 1820s dress & spencer ensemble A couple of you were lukewarm about the dress, but most of you loved the detailing, the pairing of blush and cream, and the wardrobe options that a dress and spencer would allow. The Total: 9.5 out of 10 Practically perfect – the bride (if it was a bride) can feel that her dress passed the test of time This week: an 1882-3 day dress in fawn brown The description of this dress in my post title may make it sound like a lot. There’s pleats, on pleats, with lace trim, and overskirts, and overbodices with very interesting peplum effects, and oh-so-many buttons down the front: But all of this (excepting the lace) is done in …

I honestly didn’t mean to repeat last week’s random button theme this week! I was a bit at a loss as to what to pick for Rate the Dress, and just went browsing. It wasn’t until I’d selected this dress, because I thought it was an interesting play in monochrome textures that I realised that it relies heavily on lots of button-ness for its decoration (and isn’t even monochrome – it’s patterned!). But it’s an interesting garment, so hopefully you’ll enjoy discussing and rating it. Last Week: a 1910s suit with all the (button) trimmings Quite a lot of you really liked last week’s suit (9/10 liked), but only a few of you loved it. And enough of you didn’t care for either the fabric, or the jacket closure, to pull the rating down just a little bit more. The Total: 8.6 out of 10 Very nice, but not spectacular. This week:  When I first saw this dress, I assumed it was monochrome: an experiment in what you could do with one fabric, a bit of …