All posts tagged: 1900

Rate the Dress: Pierre Carrier Belleuse & a cinched waist

Last week’s 1873ish mourning dress did extremely well, coming in at 8.5 out of 10, despite many of you expressing that there was something not quite perfect about it.  Of course, you all thought that different things weren’t perfect: fringe, apron, train, belt, waist, asymmetry, symmetry, dags…everyone had their own complaint! Since this is basically ‘Corset Week’ on the blog (like Shark Week, only with whale teeth, not shark teeth!) I thought I should present a corset heavy (or at least heavily corseted) frock for your consideration. What about a corset worn on the outside?  Pierre Carrier Belleuse painted this intriguing image of a group of woman with the central woman showing off her tightly cinched waist and blue-trimmed blouse. The painting documents such an interesting moment: the act of removing a coat, as well as an interesting time in fashion as styles transitioned from the tightly bodiced and high-shouldered 1890s to the drooping pigeon breasts of the 20th century, and from formal, coordinated bodices and skirts to blouses with interchangeable jackets and skirts. Has …

Rate the Dress: Velvet & Fur in 1900

Despite a few readers loving last week’s avant garde green and gold Lanvin jumpsuit, most of you didn’t.  It rated a rather dismal 4.9 out of 10, with opinions ranging from Stella’s “Who knew!?!? Harem pants  can  look cool” to comparisons to a trashbag.  Ouch. This week’s rate the dress is brought to you courtesy of the exceptional weather we have been having in Wellington.  It’s been snowing.  Now, this wouldn’t be exciting if I lived in the South Island, but snow in Wellington happens once or twice a century.  And my suburb?  Never!  We live at sea level!  But we have been having hours long snow-storms, and the whole neighborhood has been outside with cameras.  It’s such big news it made the New York Times.  If that wasn’t a hyperlink it would be in bold, italics and underline, all at the same time.  The only one who doesn’t love the weather is Felicity.  Poor kitty is freaked out.  She doesn’t understand this white cold stuff that falls from the sky. Obviously, I need to …

Achieving Emily pink

I know that last week, when I blogged about the evilness of pintucking, before life and a lack of internet derailed the blog, I promised to tell you what the pintucks had taught me. But that’s the wrong way to tell the story of Emily’s dress, because before you can pintuck fabric you have to have the right fabric. I already told you about the quest to figure out the correct term for the fabric type, and then to find a modern replacement, and that I ended up buying white silk taffeta.  Obviously Emily’s dress is extremely pink, not white. So, how to get extremely pink fabric?  Dye it! When I went to dye Emily’s fabric, I was a little scared.  It was a very precise colour, and a LOT of fabric to dye at once. I kept trying to put it off, but when I looked out the window I noticed that our camellia bush had put out its first bloom of the year, and it was exactly the right shade of pink.  Obviously …