Author: Adam Lid

An Interesting 1890s Day Dress…

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Lately, the 1890s have been an area of focus for us and it seems that never a day passes when we don’t discover something unique and interesting. Today we feature a day dress that was made in 1892 (or close thereabouts):

Day Dress 1892

Day Dress, c. 1892; University of New Hampshire Library 157a,b)

Day Dress 1892

What  immediately caught our eye was the near-florescent colors of the base fashion fabric and the trim. The fashion fabric appears to be a dark blue velvet trimmed with a combination of the dark and  light blues and salmon red . In terms of silhouette, appears to be more early 1890s where the leg-of-mutton sleeve are prominent but haven’t reached the out-sized proportions later seen by 1895. Also, the dress “bodice” appears to be a jacket and waistcoat style although in reality, it’s probably just a one-piece construction. Here’a close-up of the bodice:

Day Dress 1892

What is interesting is that the colors are in excellent condition, given the age of the dress and the luster is amazing. Granted that lighting and camera angle can alter a garment’s visual appearance but it’s still amazing.  Here are some close-up views of the trim:

The trim is especially interesting and especially towards the bottom where one can see grape-like bead clusters that give an effect is that of garden vines. Below are a couple of views of the skirt design:

The pictures do not give justice to this dress and it’s difficult to determine the specific construction. For the skirt, below is a full description from the University of New Hampshire Textile Library website:

The skirt has the effect of multiple layers but with just one waistband. A six-gored foundation skirt of blue silk is smooth-fitting in front and pleated at the hips and back, and is slightly longer in back than in front. Over this, four panels of the voided velvet hang from the waist to nearly the floor, free-floating except for a few tacking stitches to keep them from flopping over and with dark red silk facings just wide enough to cover the inside edges.

The panels are wide enough to show three of the voided pattern bands each, and at the bottom of each band is a grape-like cluster of silk-wrapped and crocheted balls in graduating sizes, left free to dangle. The two front panels are sewn together but have the same decorative buttons and loops as the bodice. Beneath the panels, more blue velvet is sewn to the foundation layer in flat panels and box pleats to make it appear that there is an entire underskirt of velvet. In back, a 96.5 cm/38 in. wide panel of floor-length blue velvet, partially sewn in at its sides, is cartridge pleated to a short band and hooks to the waistband to cover the center-back opening of the foundation skirt and provide fullness. Machine-sewn and hand-sewn.

The construction details are fascinating and we wish that we were able to examine this dress in person- one can only go so far from pictures alone. We hope you’ve enjoyed this brief view of a fascinating early 1890s day dress. Stay tuned for more!

Santa Fe

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This past weekend, we took a break from fashion and traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico, taking in the sights and visiting various museums and art galleries. Santa Fe has an interesting history that goes back thousands of years before the the area was first colonized by the Spanish in 1610 and the interaction between various peoples and cultures has produced a unique location noted for its involvement with the arts and home to many artists. Here’s some artwork from Santa Fe’s Spanish past:

While we were in town, we took the opportunity to visit the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Georgia O’Keeffe was a well established artist before she first came to New Mexico in 1929 and spent an increasing amount of time there and ultimately taking up full-time residency by the 1940s. O’Keeffe is most noted for establishing the American Modernism movement in art which focused itself on human experience in a modern industrial world in America and mixed both abstract and realist styles (although the tendency was towards the abstract). More importantly, Modernism sought to divorce itself from traditional artistic forms and this was reflected in O’Keeffe’s work. Here’s just a few examples that we saw:

The one thing that struck us was her use of bold colors in forms that seem to set the various elements in her paintings apart from each other. The details are spare yet have an impact and this case especially be seen in this view of  Machu Picchu:

While the above is by no means an exhaustive survey of the art of Georgia O’Keeffe, what we saw was thought-provoking and we’ll be looking into this more in the future. What is especially striking is that it’s so divorced from what we’ve been seeing in museums throughout our travels in Europe and in the end, that’s probably a good thing in terms of balance. 🙂 What this means for fashion? We’re not sure except to say that it reinforces our appreciation of the role of color and makes us more conscious of its effects. Overall, Santa Fe was exciting to visit and we will definitely be returning in the future.

 

Off To Santa Fe!

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Today we set off for Santa Fe New Mexico for a quick weekend getaway to take in a part of the country that we normally don’t see. It’s only for a few days but as with all journeys, we look for inspiration. Stay tuned for more! 🙂

Santa Fe Plaza Buildings today

Trending- Outerwear for December 1890

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In today’s post, we turn to outerwear, specifically jackets trending for December 1890. According to the December 1890 issue of Demorest’s Family Magazine, jackets:

Decidedly the most popular outdoor garment this season is the jacket, which is worn by ladies of all ages, whether of petite or portly figure. All styles agree in having the fitted back, differing only in the use or omission of plaits or lap at the side-form and back seams, and the majority have tight-fitting fronts, either single or double-breasted, the loose fronted “Reefer,” and the open, rolling fronts displaying a vest, being the exceptions.

Here’s some examples of styles pictured in Demorest’s:

One of the more interesting and eminently practical is the “Reefer” Jacket:


Here’s another view of the jacket style as part of a complete outfit from the December issue of Peterson’s Magazine:

Finally, just to round things off here are some pictures of extant originals:

Jacket, c. 1891; Auction in AntiqueDress.com

Skirt Suit Jacket, c. 1895; Victoria & Albert Museum (T.173&A-1969)

Afternoon Jacket, Emile Pingat, c. 1885 – 1890; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.76)

Jackets were an integral part of any wardrobe of the period, ranging from the purely functional to the extremely fashionable, and there’s a wide range of possibilities for those recreating historical fashions.

And For More On Waists…

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In our last post, we discussed the development of the waist (or shirtwaist) during the Mid 1890s and how waists were more than just simple blouse-like garments. Today, we take a step back where we find that even in the late 1880s, the waist was developing as part of a complete outfit. One example of this can found in the March 1889 issue of Demorest’s Family Magazine where a pattern called the “Sybil Waist” was offered for sale:

According to the description:

The least expensive washable goods, cashmere, veiling, and other light qualities of woolens, surah and India silks can be made up after this model, which will be very popular for summer wear either with various skirts, or with one made of the same goods. It is the same back and front, and, if preferred, the part below the belt can be worn under the skirt, which can be lifted high enough to make the waist as short as desired.

Surah in light colors, sometimes striped in two colors. as pale blue and pink, or cream with pink, or blue, is now being made into waists of this style for summer wear with different skirts. Some have fine tucks, as illustrated; others have the spaces shirred; and still others are smocked, or honey-combed. The pattern will admit of either of these arrangements. For simpler materials and washable goods, the tucks are preferable; and a full skirt of straight breadths, with a broad sash tied in a large bow at the back, combines nicely with it. Though most effective, it is not essential that velvet should be used in combination.

The above style is interesting and reinforces the idea that the waist was not simply a separate fashion item but also, it was part of an integrated outfit. Here is an example of extant dress similar to what was envisioned with the Sybil Waist:

Day Dress, Cotton, c. 1890s; Augusta Auctions

The waist’s style is very similar to the Sybil Waist- collars, cuffs, and decorative details can vary but the basic style is pretty much the same.

The above example was found on the Augusta Auctions website and while the dating is imprecise, it seems to fit into the early 1890s pretty nicely. The dress and waist/bodice are made of a cotton fabric and it definitely leaned more towards “casual wear.” In a similar vein, below are two more extant waist examples:

Shirt Waist, c. 1890s; FIDM Museum (2003.793.7AB)

Shirt Waist, c. 1890s; Museum of Fine Arts Boston (2006.1180)

Waists are an interesting element in 1890s style and the idea of entire dress outfits that incorporates the waist as an integral element represented a new and interesting fashion development and provides a fertile field of reconstructing historical fashions.