This week Rate the Dress is going from not-a-polonaise to actually-a-polonaise, with dresses separated in time by a century.  Last week’s was exquisitely presented, this week’s choice less so – but hopefully you’ll find it no less worthy of comment. Last week: a painted silk ca 1780s not-a-polonaise. You thought this dress was practically perfect in every way: it even racked up a total of 360 points: a round of applause if I ever saw one!  It lost a few points for the not-matched but not-not matched bodice, which I quite expected.  But otherwise…pretty much fabulous. The Total: 9.5/10 Woot woot! This week: Since last week’s dress wasn’t an actual polonaise, I thought I’d pick a real one this week.  Not a real 18th century polonaise dress, but one from another era that used the term. 1870s and 1880s ‘polonaise’ dresses were bustle dresses with the bodice and bustling overskirt cut in one, and the bustling overskirt opening over the (often contrasting) underskirt in a V, inspired by 18th century dresses which opened over petticoats. …

Last week’s dress wasn’t exactly a universal success.  But it did spark a lot of very interesting conversations about what it was worn for, and what inspired its design.  And interesting discussions are what Rate the Dress is really about.  So, whether you like it or not, hopefully this week’s pick will be equally interesting. Last week: A young lady’s formal day dress, ca 1915 Half of you loved the ca. 1915 day dress, or could at least see what it was going for, and rated it consequently.  But the other half of you didn’t like, well, so many things: the not quite white colour; the almost symmetrical front and back; the way the ruffles didn’t carry around to the front of the skirt; the fussiness; the details on details; and most of all, the vertical bow. I really enjoyed all of the suppositions about the design influences and purpose of this garment: Mrs C showing how effective it would be in black and white photography, Hvitr’s guess that it might very well be inspired …

This week’s Rate the Dress takes us from ballrooms, to bedrooms, with an formal dressing gown that I’ve dithered over showing to you for weeks, because what will you make of what is essentially a really, really, fancy bathrobe? Last week:  a pale blue paisley ca. 1860 ballgown It was a fairytale ending for the 1860s ballgown, with everyone singing its praises and declaring it must have been made by a fairy godmother, because if there was ever a historically accurate Cinderella ballgown, that was it!  (with a few votes for Elsa). The Total: 9.8 out of 10 Almost perfect! (and really, that’s pretty much as close to perfection as RTD is likely to get). This week: An 1880s dressing gown This embroidered dressing gown is a fantastic example of the type of goods that were made in Japan for the Western market. It features lavish embroidery that combines both a Japanese and Western aesthetic. Although there is a very slight nod to the idea of a kimono, the silhouette and pattern shapes are predominantly …