All posts tagged: 1890s

Rate the Dress: Liberty Yellow

Much to my surprise, last week’s 1870s summer whites proved very popular. I can’t say they particularly did anything for me, though I enjoyed how much the outfit reminded me of Morisot and Clause in Manet’s The Balcony. While it didn’t make my heart go pitter-pattern, I will admit that I do love it when you guys love something! Enthusiasm is always attractive! The enthusiasm (with slight reservations about the scale of embroidery) yielded the dress a perfect 9 out of 10. Not as good as the week before, but still excellent. Since a few people mentioned that last week’s selection reminded them of a robe, and since I have Aesthetic dress on my mind thanks to Costume College, and yellow on my mind because yellow, this week I present a warm, cozy Aesthetic robe by Liberty of London. This garment completely rejects the fashionable nipped-waist and exaggerated sleeves of 1890s fashion, seen even in most tea gowns and other ‘relaxed’ garments of the era, for a loose, Renaissance inspired silhouette and shirred double-layer sleeves …

Rate the Dress: Emily Warren Roebling is presented at court, three ways

Published by The Dreamstress

I’m running a bit late, so I haven’t tallied the totals for last week yet, but I’ll get to those shortly. For this week’s Rate the Dress I present someone who is undeniable awesome: Emily Warren Roebling. Emily is famous as the Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge. Her father in law started the bridge, but when he died her husband took it over. He became extremely ill with decompression sickness, Emily looked at the bridge and though ‘yep, I can do this.’ For the next fourteen years, Emily oversaw every aspect of the bridge’s construction, from calculating the curves needed, to testing the materials used, to liaising with everyone from the workers to the politicians. When the bridge was finally finished, Emily didn’t rest on her laurels: instead she helped with relief efforts during the Spanish American War, helped organise a World’s Fair, travelled extensively, and got a law degree from New York University (while she was in her 50s or 60s). As you do. Undeniably awesome! From a Rate the Dress awesome perspective, …

Rate the Dress: Charles Worth in 1897

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week I showed you a striped 1860s number, and pointed out that the stripes weren’t aligned as we would expect them to be. Oh foolish me! Having had it pointed out, you all obsessed about the stripe placement, and were rather harsh on the poor gown (I know there was a tiny mis-match as well, but other than that, I actually though the unusual stripe action on the chevrons made the gown far more interesting and dynamic than a ‘normal’ stripe placement). Beyond the stripes, some of you decried it as quite dull and blah. Poor frock! Some did love it though so it managed a 7.4 out of 10. I’m quite obsessed with the late 1890s at the moment: the stiff, A-line skirts, the focus on menswear inspired tailoring, the pleating, the peculiar puffed sleeves. This House of Worth evening gown from ca. 1897 is the perfect summation of the whole look. The skirt, with its heavy folds and widening gores. The juxtaposition of the Ã¼ber-feminine pink floral warp-patterned silk with a strong, …