All posts tagged: 1900s

Rate the Dress: a touch of green velvet, 1902

Last week I showed you a half length portrait of Anna Caffarelli Minutiba, ca 1676. The overall reception was quite warm, but it lost a point or two here and there because some of you found the lace just a bit big, the contrast between it and the yellow just a bit stark, or the string bows just a bit odd. Still, 8.6 out of 10 is an eminently respectable, if not absolutely fabulous rating! This week I’m carrying on the lace them from last week, with a dress that incorporates spectacular cutwork lace worked into the dress fabric. I’ve used the term spectacular because I’m sure we can all agree that the workmanship of the lace, at the very least, is spectacular, even if you don’t find the overall effect quite to your taste. The dove grey colour, combined with darker greys, whites and ecru, are all typical of the soft, muted, hues favoured in the first decade of the 20th century, and the way multiple accent colours were often combined in one garment. …

Rate the Dress: subtle and sparkly 1908

Published by The Dreamstress

There has been no Rate the Dress for the last two weeks, because I was focusing on the Fortnight in 1916, but it’s back! Last time I did a Rate the Dress I showed two things that have not, in the past, done very well on RTD: childrenswear, and blue-green combinations. In this case though, reactions ranged from a sprinkling of ‘it’s a nice dress, not fabulous, but I shall give it a 7’ to a LOT of ‘I want to make it! Love!’ 10s. Big pockets and historicism for the win! It came in at a perfect 9 out of 10. The last couple of weeks have been very stressful for me, for reasons that had nothing to do with the Fortnight, so I’m feeling the need for something soothing and restful in the way of frocks. While I would never say ‘oooh, that colour is amazing!’ about a length of fabric the shade of this dress, I find looking at it very relaxing and soothing. For me, it’s a shade that’s very appealing …

Utter deliciousness: the 1905-7 afternoon dress at a garden party

Published by The Dreamstress

This post is pure eye candy. My life has been quite busy and stressful for the last few weeks, and something undemanding but completely divine is just what I need in a blog post – and my model was certainly divine in Pamela’s 1905-7 Greek Key afternoon dress, especially in Tony McKay’s photographs! Enjoy! I’m still not 100% happy with the hat, but the yellow flowers were important for Manfield’s story, and the hat is getting to where I want it to be.