Charles Frederick Worth

And Now For Something A Little Different From Maison Worth

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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. 🙂



And Just In Time For The Holidays From Maison Worth

/ Adam Lid / 1 Comment

Maison Worth was famous for its ability to constantly produce amazing designs and that was especially true when it came to evening dresses.1In referring to Worth, we tend to use the term “Maison Worth” to denote the business after his passing in 1893. Below is an elegant evening dress from circa 1898-1900:

Worth, Evening Dress, c. 1898-1900; Metropolitan Museum of Art (976.258.4a, b)

The dress is constructed from what appears to be a black silk velvet burn-out floral design, no doubt created through the Devoré process, and lining the neckline is a wide ivory lace strip. Below is a close-up of the front bodice:

Below is a side profile that shows the floral design nicely:

Here’s the rear of the dress which is also trimmed with same lace as the front:

We just envision this as the perfect dress for those winter gatherings… 🙂



And We’re Moving Towards Winter (Slowly)

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It’s actually a little cold here in Southern California so we immediately thought of coats so here’s an evening coat from Maison Worth, circa 1902:

Maison Worth, Evening Coat; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.308)

This coat is constructed from a silk brocade with a large floral design and trimmed along the front opening edges and cuffs with an ivory lace. The collar is in the Medici style and also trimmed in ivory lace with two large ivory-colored tulle bows. Finally, the sleeves are wide Mandarin sleeves. It’s interesting to note that the floral pattern has been matched so it’s symmetrical on the front and matches perfectly in the back, as can been seen in the picture below:

And for a view of a live model wearing the coat:

One thing that we found striking is that on initial viewing, it appears to be more of a tea gown with it’s lace and tulle trimming than a coat. It’s an interesting style effect giving both the appearance of something worn only at home while at the same time something that could be worn to a formal public event. This is a garment that we would love to be able examine in person. 🙂 This is definitely something we would love to recreate and it could even be worn today.


And Something For Fall From Maison Worth

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To us, one of our most favorite things about Fall is going out to plays, concerts, and the like. Unfortunately, recent events have eliminated this option but we can still dream and to celebrate Fall, we decided to feature this circa circa 1900 evening coat from Maison Worth:

Worth, Evening Coat, c. 1900; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.94)

Unfortunately, details as to specific fabrics was not readily available but we believe it’s safe to say that the sleeves and upper part of this coat are constructed from a silk velvet. As for the main body of the coat, it’s hard to say without viewing it in person. But nevertheless, the Tudor-inspired black floral pattern provides an interesting counterpoint to the black velvet. The flat floral design motif has a very contemporary feel and while it’s a clean design, it’s still complex at the same time. It definitely catches the eye. Here’s a close-up of the coat (unfortunately the resolution of the available pictures from the MET Museum website are not the best):

Below is a close-up of the floral design. It’s hard to tell whether it was printed or a brocade but knowing Maison Worth, we suspect the latter. 🙂

This is a fascinating coat and bears further examination, especially in how the floral decorated portions integrate with the black velvet portions. We’re sure that the answer is a simple one but unfortunately, the lack of high resolution pictures hampers this.1We really wish that the MET would revised their picture policies. But, nevertheless, we’re still left with a nice Fall feeling and that’s what counts! 🙂


Happy Birthday Charles Worth!

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Happy Birthday Charles Worth! Born October 13, 1825, Charles Worth was a pioneer in the development of the fashion industry and laid the foundation for many key details of the fashion world that survive to this day. In commemoration of the day, albeit belated, here’s an interesting circa 1878 reception dress he created: 🙂

Worth, Reception Dress, c. 1878; FIDM Museum (2006.25.2AB)

This skirt and base bodice of this dress is constructed from a black silk velvet combined with sleeves of a dark gold covered in black lace with black beaded passmentarie. More black beaded passmentarie covers the front skirt and bodice front. Below is a close-up of the front bodice:

And here’s a view of the rear upper shoulders and neck:

And here’s a rear profile view:

In terms of the age of the dress, it would appear that the skirt is fuller than what would be expected for a natural form/Mid-Bustle Era dress silhouette. Also, the bodice  hem appears to be riding high on the hip, something that was done to optimize the drawing of the train to the rear through use of a bustle. Of course, it could also be a matter of staging, without viewing it in person it can often be hard to tell. Time-wise, we’re inclined to place this one more towards 1875-1876. Well, hopefully we’ll one day have an opportunity to view this dress in person but in the meantime, enjoy the pictures and once again, happy birthday Charles Worth!