Dress Detail of the Day: Deep violet 1878 silk taffeta gown from our museum collection, she is seamstress-made perfection. Isn’t her tiny pleated watch pocket adorable? ♡
Costume History
Going To The Originals
As part of the design process, we often utilize original garments. One example is this sweet 1870s day dress in our collection that I used as the basis for three dresses that I designed for a film (in three different colors, no less!). The dress itself is American-made, with no maker’s label, and is constructed primarily from silk. The dress is in amazingly good condition considering its age and there are no signs of shattering, a problem common in 19th Century silk dresses.
Below are some pictures of the original dress:
Front View
As mentioned above, the dress is constructed from silk and the color scheme is two-toned with the overskirt a dark gray trimmed along the hem in a lighter shade. The bodice also utilizes the same two colors, in this case the trunk is the same shade of dark gray and the sleeves light gray. It’s interesting that the lighting gives green undertone to both shades of gray and it could be argued that the light gray is really a celedon or seafoam color. Below is a close-up of the rear bodice:
Back of the Bodice
Here’s the bodice back- I love that sweet bustle-like swallow-tail! 🙂 The rear bow that’s “missing,” I temporarily removed to study and pattern; I’ll put it back later. The seaming is gorgeous on this piece with all the perimeter seams being piped. Below are some close-ups of the details:
Skirt Interior
Here’s a view of the silk-striped foundation skirt with the hem folded back to reveal facings of a quality glazed cotton and brush braid. I wonder if this was a wedding/special occasion dress, because there’s no sign of wear except for some crazing in the facings. This dress is one of the centerpieces in our collection and it’s been an inspiration for many of our designs and we expect it to continue as an inspiration.
Dress Detail Of The Day
Dress Detail of the Day: 1898 wool and silk blend beauty used as a bridal gown and “best dress” many years ago in Old West Tombstone. I find the hidden military-style closures of the late 19th century so interesting…this bodice is part of a complete suit that we display during the Tombstone Historic Home Tours. ♡
Trending For 1898…Shirt Waists
One of the most notable fashion trends of the 1890s was the rise of the shirt waist as an everyday fashion article. As a practical style, it was almost unequaled and reflected the changing status of women in society as they increasingly entered the workforce and sought to create a more independent life. The shirt waist was ubiquitous and by 1900 has become almost a uniform of sorts.
From the September 25, 1898 edition of the Los Angeles Times.
It was clear that the shirt waist was not a passing fad, as noted in the September 25, 1898 edition of the Los Angeles Times:
Every season somebody hardily attempts to sound the tocsin of the shirt waist, and every season that passing bell is turned into a becoming chime, for the shirt waist, long life to it, was never in finer fettle than just now.
Moreover, shirt waists were available in a variety of colors and fabrics:
Flannels and goods, especially woven for blouses, now fill a counter all to themselves, and each specimen is the gayest of the gay. Nobody who knows old styles from new will think of purchasing goods for a blouse in any but a dazzling tone or a daring configuration. Tyrian purple, Hungarian blue, nasturtium brown and blaze green are but a few of the one-toned flannels, so decided of tone that they would almost make old Sol wink to look on them; but for all that these colors are becoming, and you can buy them modulated by close set embroidered dots in black silk.
Much more popular than the above mentioned are the striped and speckled flannels made up, as in fact nearly all these woolen blouses now are, with great art and elaboration. Last season we were very content to revel in blouses or puritan simplicity of design; we are far more exacting now and the blouse that wrings admiration from the most unenthusiastic goes in for character of its own. It has an overlapping collar or none at all, a fancy front or is brave with braiding. Some there are that are made with yokes and some with vests, and in all these mazes of variation the velveteen and corduroy shirt waist Is Its flannel sister’s faithful follower.
Before the advent of color photography, it’s easy to think that shirt waists were mostly white (or other light colors) but as described above, that wasn’t the case. Fortunately, we have a multitude of extant examples from the period. Here are just a few examples of the variety:
Shirt Waist, c. 18998 – 1899; Metropolitan Museum of Art (C.I.56.16.22)
Rear View
Shirt Waist, c. 1890s; FIDM Museum (2003.793.7AB)
Shirt Waist, c. 1896 – 1898; Metropolitan Museum of Art (C.I.59.32.4)
Rear View
Side Profile
Shirt Waist, c. 1890s; Museum of Fine Arts Boston (2006.1180)
Shirt Waist, 1892; Metropolitan Museum of Art (C.I.59.32.4)
Rear View
In a place like Los Angeles with its warmer climate, the shirtwaist as everyday wear was, no doubt, an item of special interest. 🙂 In the evolution of fashion, most trends do not last for a long time (years back in the late 19th Century, months in the early 21st Century) but there are those exceptions which often become classics. The waist and skirt combination style that arose in the 1890s still linger on in more modern interpretation of blouse/skirt/jacket sets that are mostly marketed for work and professional wear such as this one:
We hope you have enjoyed this little journey back in time and stay tuned for more. To conclude, we are firm believers in the saying “what is old is new again”. :-).
Dress Detail Of The Day
This post is the start of a series that we will posting on a regular basis detailing various dress details found on original examples in our collection. Also, we’re not only be showing close-up dress details from the outside, but we’ll also be presenting interior pictures to give a better idea on how the dresses of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries were constructed.
Bodice, Day Dress, c. 1883; Lily Absinthe Collection
Dress Detail of the Day: 1883 silk faille gown from our in-house collection that we study and pattern from, this little lady is perfect and cherished. ♡