Taking notes and listening to her stories. How do those Mid-Bustle era skirts lay so perfectly? Facings and strategic weights. Check out how the dressmaker used the selvage as an interior seam finish, but yet all the seam allowances are hand finished…I am still working on my pleating article, I pulled it from posting because there’s so much, I’m dividing it into more segments.
In this post, we look at some more facets of Doucet. One interesting area that Doucet excelled in was designing outfits for famous actresses such as Sarah Bernhardt and Gabrielle Réjane and especially in the early 1900s. Not only did his designs enhance these actresses but it also served as a form of advertising, a practice that continues to this day. The timing could not have better with the growing trend of the lingerie dress, a fashion inspired by the earlier chemise a la reine, a style that arose in the 1780s.
Dinner Dress for Rejane, c. 1902
Rejane, c. 1903
Below are some examples of Doucet’s day dresses:
Doucet, Afternoon Dress, c. 1900 – 1903; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.579a, b)
The above dress is made from silk chiffon that has a printed pastel-colored floral design finished with delicate ivory-colored lace trim. As a counterpoint to the ethereal effect of the silk chiffon is a bright aqua/teal-colored velvet sash that drapes down the back of the dress with matching velvet bands on each sleeve and the collar. The overall effect was one of Doucet’s signature looks and during the early 1900s, it became increasingly prominent in his day dress designs.
This dress neatly fits in with the lingerie dress trend developing in the early 1900s, a trend that took its inspiration from the late 18th Century chemise dress or chemise a la reine. Of course, the fact that Doucet was enamored of 18th Century designs no doubt influenced Doucet’s design is no surprise. At the same time, one could also argue that in Doucet’s case, his design was simply a continuation of pre-existing ideas. 🙂
In any event, Doucet’s design, and lingerie dresses in general, represents a break from earlier styles in it’s emphasis on the light and airy, in much the same way the chemise a la reine represented a break with previous styles. Below is one example of the earlier style:
Anna Maria and Thomas Jenkins, by Angelica Kauffman, 1790. National Portrait Gallery (London)
The fact that and there is no doubt Doucet drew inspiration from the chemise a la reine (although it could also be argued that this was merely a continuation of Doucet’s pre-existing design tendencies). At the same time, however, Doucet’s design was somewhat more sophisticated in his use of colors and fabric.
Below is another example:
Doucet, Afternoon Dress, 1903; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.1153a, b)
Three-Quarter Front View
Here we see the use of a layered tomato red-colored silk chiffon ribbon trim on the bodice. The sleeves and the collar are an ivory lace trim and a silk satin sash at the waist complete the outfit. Further trim details in the same red color run in rows around the skirt. In terms of silhouette, one sees the pigeon breast characteristic of early 1900s dresses. This dress is somewhat more restrained than the first example and its effect stems from the laying of fabrics and the use of trim.
With its characteristic pigeon breast silhouette and the use of sheer materials, lace, and ribbons, the lingerie dress served to define women’s day wear for almost a decade. In the next installment, we will continue our look at Doucet moving into the Teens.
To Be Continued…
With cycling’s increasingly popularity among women during the late 1880s and 1890s, clothing that was suitable for wear while cycling also became popular. In comparison to previous styles, women were now able to wear styles that allowed for greater physical movement and major designers such as John Redfern were quick to follow. In a broad sense, cycling suits were a manifestation of the spirit of the “New Woman” that was growing in the 1880s and 1890s- women were increasingly becoming more than simply domestic matrons, they were now participating in many facets of public life to include participating in sports and pursuing careers outside of the house (to be sure, this was not a universal phenomenon but it was a major start).
Naturally, I also wanted to create a dress that both reflected this spirit of the “New Woman” while at the same time providing a practical cycling garment; towards this end, we did some practical research first and came up with this circa 1890 day dress:
Rear View
Side Profile
Faux Shirtwaist Bodice
Collar
Faux Shirtwaist Bodice
Cuff
And for some details:
Trim Detail
Inset Boning
Interior Of The Bodice
Interior Of Bodice
As can be seen from the above pictures, this is a structured garment that was meant to be worn with a corset. Although the bodice is boned, this is meant to maintain the shape of the garment rather than sculpt the torso to fit as a corset would. The base fabric is a lightweight linen and is definitely meant for warmer weather.
And now, here’s my interpretation of the above dress:
Interior of the habit bodice, this is the fitted underbodice. It’s attached to the main garment at the side seams.
Under construction on the dress dummy.
The finished outfit on display.
The first major decision we had to make was in regard to the base fabric. After some consideration, we ultimately decided to go with a lightweight wool gaberdine since that was considered the only proper fabric for cycling dresses and it also provides a high degree of durability. In regard to wool, the April 1897 issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book:
Redfern has found by experience that the Scotch tweeds are by far the best materials for wear, the mixed weave showing the wear and tear of the road much less than the covert suitings or plain ladies’ cloths.
Redfern Cycling Suit; from the April 1897 issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book, p. 443.
The above image s a classic interpretation of the cycling suit by Redfern and it served as an additional source of inspiration for my design. An essential part of any cycling suit is good tailoring and this I incorporated into the bodice and skirt. At the same time, in order to incorporate elements from the above day dress, design changes had to be made in order to adapt for this dress to be used for cycling. Specifically, the bodice has padding at the shoulders, the front armscye, and the sleeve cuffs and the habit bodice hem and the skirt hem. That’s for both safety and freedom of movement. Also, the bodice is tailored with all the stripes mitered and matching. Finally, the buttons are wooden balls covered with fabric.
One thing I learned the hard way was with with the trim: never wear a ruffled petticoat when cycling! I tore up the ruffle in the chain case, so that’s the reason for all those weights and padded hems for sporting suits for ladies. It’s amazing what one learns in the course of actually constructing period garments.
Here are some pictures of me wearing the dress:
One interesting thing about cycling was that a lady had two methods of eye protection…those newfangled outdoor glasses (green lenses were considered healthful) or to wear her hat pinned and perched forward.
Cycling suits are a fascinating aspect of 1880s/1890s fashion and reflect the changing position of women in society. I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at this as much as I enjoyed designing this dress.
When it comes to fashions of the 1880s – 1890s, people tend to think that they were impractical and completely non-functional. Well, that was not always the case and in fact, things were dramatically changing as women began taking up outside pursuits such as hiking, cycling, tennis, and golf. In fact, by the 1890s, cycling was a becoming a major phenomenon and this was reflected in fashion where outfits were designed around the need for clothes that would not interfere with riding a bicycle.
Below is a picture of us at a Tweed Ride that was held last January:
Here we are at the start of the ride.
And another one… 🙂
Sponsored by CicLAvia, the tweed ride is held every year in January and it’s theme is dressing up in tweed or other period-esque clothing of the late 19th/early 20th Centuries. The ride is tailored towards older “slow bikes” (no Tour-de-France stuff here 🙂 with an emphasis on a more period feeling. This distance was about ten miles with on mostly level ground (although there were some steep grades we had to negotiate in a couple of places). The clothing guidelines are fairly loose and people interpret “tweed” in many ways (including Adam in his German uniform) but it’s all good fun. For us, this event is tailor-made to get out, get some fresh air and exercise, and, of course, wear our clothes. 🙂
Adam in his Bavarian Cavalry uniform, c. 1916, representing the 2 Chevauleger.
Not only did we get some fresh air and exercise, we got to meet some very nice people and after socializing for awhile after the ride, we headed back to the start point which was about three miles from the start point. Now, one would have thought that would have been it for the day but no…the skies had been clouding up all day and finally the heavens let loose with raid and hail. Yes, HAIL…in Southern California. And we rode all three miles through it in our period clothes. And you know what? They held up just find and just required some drying out when we got home. So much for the idea that these styles are fragile and impractical. 🙂
We are definitely looking forward to the next tweed ride (hopefully without hail). 🙂
I hear this a lot:
I knew that was a McKechnie gown, it had tons of/covered in/had lots of knife pleats!
I do appreciate my work being noticed, but if you want to really want to pleat sans fear, I’m working on a three part series: “The Pleats Unfolded” at our Lily Absinthe blog, Part 1 will be out this Saturday. Stay tuned! 🙂
