All posts tagged: House of Worth

Rate the Dress: Worth takes on three centuries of fashion

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week’s Rate the dress took us to the 1740s.  This week we’re travelling back in time half a century to ca. 1690, AND forward half a century to ca. 1790, and finishing up ca. 1890, all in one dress.  Only Worth would try that!  But did he succeed? Last week: An unknown young lady of ca. 1740 by Bartholemew Dandridge I’m always a bit trepidatious when I post a historical child for Rate the Dress because of the children-as-adults issue.  Luckily the response to our girl-on-the-cusp-of-adolescence was (almost) unanimously positive.  You thought she was perfectly dressed for a young lady in her first almost-grown-up frock, with the ideal balance of frills and boldness. The Total: 9.3 out of 10 It was the princess dress to appeal to both our inner little-girl and our more critical adult selves! This week: A House of Worth Reception gown of ca. 1890 This grape purple and pale gold Worth reception gown from ca 1890 is heavy on the historicism.  It has a skirt inspired by mantua fashionable in …

Rate the Dress: ca. 1888 Flight of Fancy

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week I showed you a lady of 1660s as an allegory of…something.    Her  vivid teal-y blue and golden orange colour scheme met with general approval, as did the overall silhouette, balancing out the lower ratings from those of you who felt she was a little too generic mid-17th century, and her allegory a little too obvious, giving her a rating of a perfect 8 out of 10. It’s been said more than once in the comments on Rate the Dress that ‘Worth can do no wrong’ or ‘It’s a Worth – automatic 10’.  The is, I think, utter  rubbish.  Every designer has a bad day, or a client who insists on design features the designer isn’t thrilled about.  And the House of Worth was pumping out so many frocks in the last quarter of the 19th century that they had to have the occasional not-quite on to it garment. On the other hand, past ratings make it very clear that the design works of Jean-Phillipe Worth aren’t quite as warmly  received  as that …