Today we explore late 1880s fashion styles a bit further by looking at the use of color and texture in daytime 1880s styles.
Color and texture were two major elements in the daytime styles of the mid to late 1880s and often effects were achieved through the use of one color combined by differing fabric textures. The highly sculpted smooth silhouettes of the 1880s further enhanced this effect in that emphasis was placed on the fabrics themselves rather than through the use of trim or draping. Typically, style effects were achieved through the use of contrasting fabrics:
Day Dress, c. 1885 – 1890; From Augusta Auctions
“Contrast” could also be a bit more subtle- note how the jeweled texture of the under bodice/underskirt also goes a long way in visually setting the two fabrics apart:
Day Dress, American, c. 1887; Metropolitan Museum of Art (1978.295.2a–c)
Contrasting colors were also employed:
Day Dress, c. 1885 – 1886; Goldstein Museum of Design (1961.003.006)
Worth, Day Dress, 1888; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.665a, b)
La Mode Illustree September 12 1886
Sometimes, the two ideas of contrasting fabrics and colors could be combined:
Edouard Alexandre Sain, The Red Parasol, Private Collection
With either method, a wide variety of aesthetically pleasing effects could be achieved and the possibilities were nearly endless. However, there was one other way a style effect could be achieved and that was through the use of different fabrics in the same color:
Day Dress, European or American, circa 1885; Bunka Gakuen Costume Museum
Close-Up Bodice Front
Close-Up With Cuff Detail
Side Profile
What is striking about this dress is that it uses two different fabric textures through the use of wine red silk fabrics- a plain silk satin combined with a floral silk brocade. The two fabrics are different but their colors are identical (at least from examination of the pictures); this contrast is very apparent if one examines the front bodice and cuff details:
Close-Up Bodice Front
Close-Up With Cuff Detail
While the style effect of the above dress is not as dramatic as contrasting fabrics and colors, it is still effective although much more subtle. This effect projects a more restrained, conservative image and as such is representative of a more middle class aesthetic that was unaffected and not meant to be fashion-forward (i.e., “we’ve got money but we’re not going to be too ostentatious about it.”). Below is another example of the same type of effect, only this time the contrast in textures is achieved through patterns of soutache:
Day Dress, c. 1880 – 1885; Metropolitan Museum of Art (C.I.65.2.1a, b)
Side Profile
Rear View
The contrast in textures is achieved through soutache which is most prominent on the front and neck of the bodice and at the tops of the overskirt on both sides. Here’s a better view of the bodice:
Close-Up Of Bodice
For our final example, we now view a court dress that was made for the Empress Elisabeth of Austria circa 1885:
Court Dress for the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Fanni Scheiner, c. 1885; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Inv.-Nr. MD_N_123)
Full View With Train
Rear View
Full View Of Dress And Train
With this dress, we see the texture of the base fashion fabric, in this case a silk moire, create the major style effect- the Moire catches the light at different angles and creates a three-dimensional effect that is further enhanced by the black-gray lace trim. The Moire effect is further brought out with the large court train and overall, this is a dress that readily catches the viewer’s eye. Truly the fabric speaks for itself. 🙂 In each of the three above examples, each dress is of a single color and depends on either the construction of the fabric or the addition of soutache to create texture and depth. Brocades and Moires can provide some striking effects that transform an otherwise flat surface into something more. In the case of the blue dress with matching soutache, the end effect is also the same.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed this brief foray into 1880s fashion effects and it’s clear that there were an almost unlimited range of design by possibilities and we hope that this will serve as an inspiration in recreating styles of the 1880s.