Although not directly tied in with late 19th Century fashion, this video is still fascinating in that it gives a behind the scenes view of fashion conservation the preparations that go on to get a garment ready for going on public display:
Designers
Behind The Scenes At The Met
Here’s an interesting garment that we came across on the Met YouTube Channel that takes a look at an evening gown from 1898:
We previously discussed this gown in this post and this video takes a close look at the dress. Here are a couple of views of the dress:
Ballgown, Worth, 1898; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.1324a, b)
House of Worth, Ballgown,, 1898; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.1324a, b)
One interesting thing that stands out is the video shows that the bodice has green silk flower appliques that provides a background for the butterflies. It’s an interesting effect but unfortunately hard to make out from the regular pictures. After looking at the video, we were amazed at just how complex the dress is in terms of design effects- it’s more exquisite than we originally thought which just goes to show that to fully appreciate Worth’s work, it really needs to be seen up close in person.
And For The Winter Season From Maison Worth
Norbert Goeneutte, “The Boulevard de Clichy under Snow 1876”
Winter is here and with it, outerwear takes on a whole new importance. Here’s one spectacular design from Maison Worth from the late 1890s to help keep the winter cold at bay… 🙂
Worth, Evening Mantle, c. Late 1890s; Metropolitan Museum of Art (C.I.51.69.2)
This mantle/coat is a stunner with silk velvet (most likely) floral pattern fashion fabric combined with sleeves lined with black silk velvet and collar and upper capelet also of the same black silk velvet. As a counterpoint, the facings are a cream/ivory colored silk satin edged in lace filigree. Finally, trimming the neck are cream/ivory feathers. Below is a close-up of the upper front:
Close-Up of Front
Side Profile
The sides and back really show off the floral pattern fashion fabric nicely.
And below is a close-up of the fashion fabric:
Close-up of fashion fabric.
From the above photo, it appears that the fashion fabric’s floral pattern is either created from burned out velvet or the black floral elements are velvet appliques. It’s hard to tell without examining it in person. And finally, we have the characteristic Maison Worth label:
Label
As with many of Maison Worth’s creations that we’ve viewed online, mere photos don’t tell the whole story and it’s too bad that we aren’t able to view this coat in person because we’re sure it would have a lot more to tell. But in spite of this, it’s still a marvelous example of the designs that Maison Worth produced during the 1880s and 90s. 🙂
Something Different For 1890s Style
Fashion design often involves the use of various optical effects to achieve a certain look and this was as much true in the 19th Century as it is today. Today we feature an interesting dress that was made by Huet & Chéruit, a fashion house that was started by Madame Louise Chéruit Louise Chéruit (nee Huet) later married married Prosper Chéruit on August 28, 1895. and her sister Marie Huet in the Mid-1890s:
Raudnitz & Co., Evening Dress, c. 1895-1900; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.2541a–c)
The fashion fabric is interesting in that it’s actually a silk print that’s meant to mimic fur- sealskin readily comes to mind here for us. Jeweled lace trim frames the neckline and the shoulders over a black silk velvet neckline. The arms and dress are also trimmed in chinchilla fur as well as the hemline. The outline of the train is further enhanced by chinchilla fur, acting as a framing device.
The above side profile provides a nice view of the train and the chinchilla fur trim. Here’s a close-up of the lower skirt:
The lace further enhances the overall effect at the hem. Now for a close-up of the fashion fabric:
Finally, here’s a portrait of Louise Chéruit:
Paul Helleu, “Madame Louise Chéruit,”1898
Although Louise Chéruit was to become more prominent as a couturière in the Teens and 1920s, it’s interesting to get a taste of the talent that was to come into full flower later on. It’s interesting that she is one of the first to give Paul Poiret his start in fashion.
And Now For Something A Little Different From Maison Worth
And just for a little contrast from yesterday’s post, today we present a different take on the evening dress from Maison Worth with this elegant evening dress from the late 1880s- circa 1888-1889:
Worth, Evening Dress, c. 1887-1889; Metropolitan Museum of Art (49.3.24a–e)
Looking at the dress, it’s a mix of various silks and lace elements. On the dress front, we see an outer skirt and bodice of a pink blush silk jacquard with a floral design motif, reminiscent of Japanese kimono fabric, combined with horizonal strips of a matching pink blush silk satin. Underneath the silk satin strips, we see a more gold colored silk moiré. Along the hem, the same silk moiré turns into horizontal strips, most likely pleating. Finally, the dress front is covered with a large piece of gold/ivory lace that’s been arranged in a large asymmetrical swag. Here’s a closer view of the front:
For the bodice, we see the base fabric as the floral-patterned silk jacquard mentioned above with the bodice being sleeveless and taking on the profile of a corset. If we look carefully, we can make out the form of an interior under-bodice of pink blush silk satin covered by lace, creating an illusion that the upper bodice of made only of lace (especially with the shoulder straps). Finally, the sleeves are also a combination of lace and silk satin. Here’s a closer look at one of the shoulders:
Note that the decorative bows are in a gold silk satin that closely matches the color of the lace. Here’s a rear view of the upper bodice to give a better idea of the bodice construction:
Now we turn to a side profile:
In contrast with the front, the rear is relatively simple, consisting of just the silk jacquard outer skirt that tapers back in a well-proportioned train. Here’s two rear views of the rear that really shows off the train nicely:
And for a detailed view of the front skirt hem:
Along the dress front, we see an underlayer consisting of a gold silk moiré covered with horizontal strips of a more pink blush silk satin. Are you wondering just how this all comes together? Below is an interior view from the front- it appears that the dress had a double-lacing system for putting the bodice on with outer layer lacing up on the side.
And a view of the bodice interior. The seams are boned and you can see the bone casings over the seam lines. The boning was meant to act as a way of maintaining the bodice shape rather than structuring the body- the corset was for that.
The above two pictures nicely illustrates the color scheme for the dress- blush pink combined with with gold. This is an interesting color combination and harmonizes very well, especially for an evening dress- the luster must have been amazing under nigh lighting (which was exactly the design goal). Once again, another amazing design from Maison Worth and certainly worthy of replicating. 🙂