This transitional dress has elements in two fashion eras, dual openings in front (real and faux) and triple split tails in back (with skirt weights!) to accommodate a fashionably bustle’d rear view…definitely one of my BFFs in our collection.
Victorian (to 1901)
In The Atelier
Working on a few projects at a time keeps me interested…this is one of several reproduction gown projects that I’m working on at present. Only the foundation seams are machined, and frankly, I’m too far into this gown to take shortcuts! Have you ever had to take a vacation from a project? I sure have, with this one, but I’m determined to finish.
Something From The Lily Absinthe Collection
I love this little early 1870s lady, she has a skirt, an apron, and a pereline in this dress suite. Notice the lack of trim, it’s all drawn thread work from the original silk. This will be fun to draft a pattern from.
What’s On
Lately, we’ve been on a big push to expand our wardrobe collection and in particular, 1870s and 1880s styles that can be used for both background as well as for principal characters. Because these are all day dresses, the basic fabric we’re using is cotton, either in stripes or small irregular patterns such as florals and plants. In some instances, we are also using silk taffeta for accent. In this example, the base fabric is a light blue cotton with an old gold/chartreuse floral pattern. For accent, we used a dark gold/chartreuse (depending on the light) silk taffeta for accents on the front and sleeve cuffs.
Here’s a close-up for constructing revers to be inserted on the fronts:
The green silk chartreuse velvet was a real pain to work with- it was constantly migrating and it took a lot of pins and basting stitches to keep everything in place. Below are close-ups of the sleeve construction:
It looks simple but there were a lot of steps involved, each requiring exacting attention to detail and taking a long time. In a future post, we’ll show more so stay tuned.
The Countess Grefuhlle’s Tea Gown
Countess Greffulhe
One of the most iconic versions of the tea gown (or dress) was the one that was made by Maison Worth for the Countess Grefuhlle in 1895. Although tea gowns were initially intended as a form of Victorian “casual wear” for wear at home, the style eventually evolved into something less casual and more focused on achieving a fashion effect (as is the case with a lot of fashions that start simple and evolve into something far more complex). Here are a few views:
Tea Dress, Worth c. 1895; Palais Galliera (GAL1964.20.4)
Three-Quarters Front View
In this close-up, one can see the blue flocked velvet design set against a green silk satin.
Three-Quarters Rear View
Back in 2016-17, an exhibition about her was staged at Palais Gallieria in Paris and the FIT Museum in New York. Below is a link to a video about it:
In future posts, we’ll delve more into this gown but suffice to say, it’s simply stunning and we’re looking forward to someday seeing it in person, whether in Paris or somewhere else.