Dress Designs

And Now For Something A Little Different From Maison Worth

/ Adam Lid / Leave a comment

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… 🙂



In The Works…

/ Karin McKechnie-Lid / Leave a comment

Of course she’s still in pins, but what’s a little hand finishing the night before we leave for the Tombstone house? This silk faille is a dream to sew with…can’t wait to see this in my violet parlor room. 🙂


And For A Little 1890s Day Dress Style

/ Adam Lid / 1 Comment

One of the most interesting things about 1890s styles is the use of color and fabrics. Today we feature a day dress that was made in 1892, or close thereabouts:

Day Dress 1892

Day Dress, c. 1892; University of New Hampshire Library 157a,b)

Day Dress 1892

What  immediately caught our eye was the near-florescent colors of the base fashion fabric and the trim. The fashion fabric appears to be a dark blue velvet trimmed with a combination of the dark and  light blues and salmon red . In terms of silhouette, appears to be more early 1890s where the leg-of-mutton sleeve are prominent but haven’t reached the out-sized proportions later seen by 1895. Also, the dress “bodice” appears to be a jacket and waistcoat style although in reality, it’s probably just a one-piece construction. Here’s close-up of the bodice:

Day Dress 1892

What is interesting is that the colors are in excellent condition, given the age of the dress and the luster is amazing- it’s almost iridescent. Granted that lighting and camera angle can alter a garment’s visual appearance but it’s still amazing.  Here’s some close-up views of the trim:

The trim is especially interesting and especially towards the bottom where one can see grape-like bead clusters that give an effect is that of garden vines. Below are a couple of views of the skirt design:

The lining appears to be a combination of blue silk taffeta and a blue-red cotton(?).

The pictures do not give justice to this dress and it’s difficult to determine the specific construction. For the skirt, below is a full description from the University of New Hampshire Textile Library website:

The skirt has the effect of multiple layers but with just one waistband. A six-gored foundation skirt of blue silk is smooth-fitting in front and pleated at the hips and back, and is slightly longer in back than in front. Over this, four panels of the voided velvet hang from the waist to nearly the floor, free-floating except for a few tacking stitches to keep them from flopping over and with dark red silk facings just wide enough to cover the inside edges.

The panels are wide enough to show three of the voided pattern bands each, and at the bottom of each band is a grape-like cluster of silk-wrapped and crocheted balls in graduating sizes, left free to dangle. The two front panels are sewn together but have the same decorative buttons and loops as the bodice. Beneath the panels, more blue velvet is sewn to the foundation layer in flat panels and box pleats to make it appear that there is an entire underskirt of velvet. In back, a 96.5 cm/38 in. wide panel of floor-length blue velvet, partially sewn in at its sides, is cartridge pleated to a short band and hooks to the waistband to cover the center-back opening of the foundation skirt and provide fullness. Machine-sewn and hand-sewn.

The construction details are fascinating and we wish that we were able to examine this dress in person- one can only go so far from pictures alone. We hope you’ve enjoyed this brief view of a fascinating early 1890s day dress. Stay tuned for more!


And For A Little 1890s Bodice Style

/ Adam Lid / 1 Comment

Today we show a little 1890s bodice style with some interesting designs that we recently came across. First up is this somewhat de-constructed 1890s bodice from the John Bright Collection:

Bodice, 1890s; John Bright Collection.

Unfortunately, beyond a vague “1890s” date, there’s nothing specific so it’s hard to pin down the specific year. However, the basic shape does read 1890s, possibly mid-1890s. Below is a close-up view of the bodice front. Note the tight armscyes of the armholes. It would be interesting to know what sort of sleeves were attached. 🙂

It’s hard to make out the fashion fabric but it’s most likely on the order of a black silk taffeta with white/ivory-colored passmentarie combined with lace along the center front (presumably to cover the front opening). On the waist is a band of black silk satin with a large bow on the left side. Below is a close-up of the collar which combines a black silk satin straight collar with petals in the back. The petals are each decorated with an embroidered floral pattern reminiscent of 18th Century motifs.

Close-Up Of Collar

For comparison, below is a similar bodice style constructed with a faux vest in the front:

Bodice, c. 1895-1897; Minnesota Historical Society (9520.11)

In many respects, the above mid-1890s bodice is fairly similar and we could easily see it with a gigot sleeves. Of course, it could have just as easily reflected the more restrained sleeve styles of the early and late 1890s:

Bodice- 1893

Bodice- Late 1890s

Either way, this bodice style provides a nice “blank canvas” for a variety of fabric, color, and trim styles.