Dinner Dress

1890s Evening Wear, Part 1

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For a change of pace, we’re now going to take a look at 1890s evening wear. As with  1890s day wear, evening wear styles also were characterized by the “x” or “Wasp Waist” silhouette and, for a brief period during the Mid 1890s, the gigot or leg-of-mutton sleeves. Moreover, 1890s evening wear styles, the focus was more on the fashion fabric itself rather than the trim. At the opening of the decade, we see a continuation of later 1880s trends with the bustle size having dramatically shrunk to little more than a pad (if that). At the same time, the train still remained:

Fashion Plates 1890s

Revue de la Mode, February 15, 1890

From the above plate, we see both an over/underskirt combination as with the dress on the left and a solid one-piece skirt on the right. As the decade progressed, we would see a reduction in the train and a shift to a single gored skirt.

Fashion Plates 1890s

The Delineator, May 1891

 

Fashion Plates 1890s

L’Art et la Mode, 1891

Fashion Plates 1890s

L’Album des Modes, 1891

With the above three plates, not only do we seen skirts in transition, but also with the sleeves. Pure ballgowns still maintained a minimal strap-like appearance but for other formal wear styles, we begin to see more fuller sleeves, often extending to the mid-arm. However, things were still in a state of flux…

Here’s one example of a somewhat minimalist ball gown, c. 1892:

Evening Dress c. 1892

Evening Dress, c. 1892; Kent State University Museum (1983.001.0173)

Evening Dress c. 1892

Close-Up, Bodice

Evening Dress c. 1892

Close-Up Side Profile

Evening Dress c. 1892

Close-Up, Side Profile

Evening Dress c. 1892

Three-Quarter Front Profile

Evening Dress c. 1892

Rear View

With the above ball gown, the emphasis is definitely on the train which is made from a yellow silk satin with a metallic embroidered pattern. The skirt itself consists of an underskirt of yellow silk satin covered by a yellow chiffon overskirt. Interestingly enough, the bodice front and back are of two fabrics: on the back is a silk satin that matches the train and on the front made of the same yellow chiffon as the overskirt.

Finally, here’s one more example, this time an evening dress from circa 1890 – 1891:

Evening Dress c. 1890 - 1891

Evening Dress, c. 1890 – 1891; Metropolitan Museum of Art

Evening Dress c. 1890 - 1891

Side Profile

Evening Dress c. 1890 - 1891

Three-Quarter Rear View

As with the first example, the emphasis is on the train; the entire dress and bodice is made from a yellow silk satin with an simple repeating embroidery pattern consisting of wavy lines. The sleeves are full, acting as a counterpoint for the train and are made from a burgundy/wine colored silk velvet. With the sleeves, one can see the beginning of what would later become the trend towards the massive gigot sleeve characteristic of the Mid-1890s.

(To be continued…)


Today’s Fashion Feature

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Today we travel back to 1896 for today’s fashion, a combination of cape and evening gown or reception dress.

Here’s a rough translation of the illustration’s description:

Silk brocade skirt with large knots; bodice neckline covered with silk muslin embroidered with pearls and sown with precious stones.

The first thing that catches the eye is the dress, and more specifically, the belt with its ornate front piece. The centerpiece of this dress is clearly the Swiss Waist or corselet belt1The terms “Swiss Waist,” Swiss Belt,” and “Corselet” were often used interchangeably. and essentially was a fitted belt/sash. The dress is constructed from a yellow silk brocade with a floral pattern with large repeats. The illustration only hints at the design and it’s unknown if there was a fabric with this specific pattern. The bodice neckline is covered in an embroidered silk muslin with jewels and pearls. Depending on the number and quality of the jewels and pearls, this part of the dress could cost substantially more than the rest of the dress. 🙂 Here’s are some examples of how elaborate the Swiss Waist or corselet style could get:

John Singer Sargent, Mrs. Wilton Phipps, 1884; Private Collection

Swiss Belt; from The Cutters’ Practical Guide to the Cutting of Ladies’ Garments by WDF Vincent.

And for an extant dress:

Day Dress, 1896-1899; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.833a, b)

And some closer views of the corselet:

59.40.3a-b_detail 0002

In terms of silhouette, this appears to be either a ball or evening gown, or possibly a reception dress, characteristic of the mid 1890s and the cape would make the perfect garment for wear over gigot sleeves. Unfortunately, there’s no commentary on the cape itself but it’s probable that it was constructed from a lavender/light purple silk velvet decorated in what appears to be some sort of floral trim. Color-wise the combination of yellow and lavender/purple are complementary and make for an aesthetically pleasing combination that fits in for almost any social occasion.

1890s Style- Chartreuse & Black

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Today we shift gears a bit and move towards something more formal with dinner dresses. As the name  implies, the dinner dress was a fairly formal dress that was meant for formal dinner gathers (although there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be worn for more informal at-home dinners).1While specific dress terminology such as “dinner dress” or “afternoon dress” or “visiting dress” were used, we suspect that these categories were not as rigidly observed in practice and that there was a lot of overlap between the dress types. Here’s an interesting example of a dinner dress from circa 1894:

Dinner Dress, 1894; Maryland Historical Society Fashion Archives (1978.95.63a,b)

Colore-wise, this dress uses a three-color combination of black, chartreuse, and yellow with black being dominant. The outer and inner skirt are made of a black silk taffeta as well as the upper sleeves and part of the front bodice. The lower sleeves, revers, epaulets, and hem trim  and constructed from a chartreuse velvet which makes for a striking effect, presenting a contrast in luster and fabric textures while at the same time lessening the severity of the black. The yellow silk ruching on the bodice front quickly catches the eye, centering focus on the dress front. Finally, running down the front of the dress is a chartreuse and white floral pattern. Compared to the black and chartreuse, the yellow presents a color contrast that pops. Essentially, the chartreuse and yellow at as analogous colors set upon black which is neutral. Below are some close-ups:

Here’s another view of the floral pattern running down the front of the inner skirt. Also, one can see one of the chartreuse velvet sleeves trimmed with jeweling at the cuff. Below is a picture of one of the epaulets. Note the use of jeweled trimming around the edge and that it’s lined with the same patterned fabric as seen on the front of the inner skirt:

The blending of revers and epaulets is an interesting style feature and variations of this were present in many dresses of the period. The upper sleeves exhibit the leg-of-mutton or gigot style which are accented by the epaulets, creating a pagoda-like effect. Like many dresses that we’ve viewed online, we would love to have examined this one in person and who knows, maybe that chance will come someday.  We hope you’ve enjoyed this! 🙂


Trending For The Late 1870s- A Look At The Princess Line Dress

/ Adam Lid / 3 Comments

As many of you might have figured out already, we at Lily Absinthe have a love for the Mid-Bustle period and we’re always returning to it for commentary. Don’t get us wrong, we love all the styles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries but the silhouette of the Mid-Bustle period of the late 1870s continues to draw our attention. Maybe it’s the upright sculpted lines or perhaps the various fabrics and colors, it’s hard to say. And then, there’s the subset of the princess line style, the focus of today’s post- executed correctly, it’s an aesthetic joy to behold. So without further adieu, here we are… Enjoy!

Today we return to the Mid-Bustle Era to take a look at some interesting examples of the princess line style. With its long horizontal lines and lack of a waist seam, the princess line style was especially suited for the “natural form” aesthetic, especially with its low train and lack of a bustle. First up is this example from circa 1876:

Dinner Dress c. 1876

Dinner Dress, c. 1876; Metropolitan Museum of Art (1975.227.3)

Here’s a close-up of the bodice:

Dinner Dress c. 1876

Dinner Dress c. 1876

Side Profile

Dinner Dress c. 1876

Rear View

And here’s a view of the upper hem:

Dinner Dress c. 1876

Close-up of hem.

Here we see knife pleating combined with bow attached to what appears to be beaded cables. It’s hard to determine just what exactly the bow are made of. Above the upper hem line, we also catch a glimpse of the silk brocade fashion fabric. Here’s a close-up of the fashion fabric which appears to be a silk brocade composed of a combination of French blue and gold:

Dinner Dress c. 1876

Close-up of fashion fabric.

Overall, it’s an incredible dress with a luminescent color combination and very clean princess lines. Next, for a little contrast, we have this example from circa 1876-1880 (although the original auction site had this labeled at 1874, we believe that date is too early):

Side Profile

Rear View

In terms of silhouette, this example is somewhat less “sculpted” (although this may be due to poor staging) and features a more conventional two-color combination of a dark teal silk velvet combined with a light mint green/celedon silk and incorporating lace trim on the front and lower hem to frame the velvet. The low train is typical of the Mid-Bustle style, characterized by a low demi-train. Below is a close-up of the train:

The train is fairly standard with one row of knife pleating running along the hem accented by a strip of teal piping running along the tip. Below are some views of the skirt:

Finally, here are some views of the bodice:

Although the colors are faded and the velvet has worn down, it’s still an interesting color combination. Based on the use of a two-color scheme for the fabric, we would be inclined to date this a bit towards 1876-1877. We hope you have enjoyed this little excursion in the princess line style of the Mid-Bustle Era and we’ll be featuring more in future posts. 🙂