Natural Form/Mid-Bustle Era Style

The Mid-Bustle or Natural Form Era of the late 1870s/early 1880s was characterized by a drastic reduction in train sizes, shifting away from the extreme bustling, and an emphasis on a more upright cylindrical style. However, within this general trend, there existed a wide variety of styles that all worked to show off this new silhouette to its best advantage. Below is just one style that was out there during the Mid-Bustle Era, in this case a circa 1878-1880 afternoon dress:

Merlot-Larcheveque, Afternoon Dress, c. 1878-1880; Metropolitan Museum of Art (C.I.50.39)

From the pictures, it appears that the dress was constructed of burgundy red silk taffeta for the skirt front and inner bodice combined with a floral patterned striped silk brocade in a combination of black, brown, burgundy, and gold colors. The striped fabric has been arranged so as to create the illusion of a robe that leads down to a demi-train.  The pseudo-robe effect is further enhanced by the princess line and there’s no separate bodice and skirt combination (at least as far as we can tell, anyway).

In this picture, we get a better view of the upper part of the dress and we can see that the dress is one piece although the “bodice” opens up. Ivory lace is used on the cuffs and around the neckline, serving to outline the wearer’s face and hands. Below is a close-up of the striped fashion fabric:

And below is a good illustration of the dress silhouette:

While there’s a bit of a rear bustle projection, it’s relatively restrained and more about supporting the demi-train. Note that the dress train extends from the bottom rather from the waist as was the case with earlier 1870s styles. Here’s another view of the train:

The fact that this dress has a demi-train suggests that it was meant for more formal daytime occasions (hence the designation “afternoon dress”). Below is a full-on view of rear of the dress:

The dress label- Merlot-Larcheveque, 25 Boulevard des Capucines, 25, En face le Grand Hotel. Unfortunately, we were unable to find out more about the maker.

The above picture is a black and white view of the dress that was taken back in the 1950s and while it doesn’t capture the dress colors, it does highlight the pattern of the outer fashion fabric very nicely. Overall, this dress is an excellent illustration of one type of  Mid-Bustle Era style which involved creating the illusion of an underskirt covered by an outer robe.  Stay tuned for more!


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The Princess Line Dress- One Unique Example

One of the most noteworthy features of Mid-Bustle Era (roughly 1876-1881), fashion was the advent of the princess line dress. Attributed to Charles Worth who supposedly created the style for Princess Alexandra’s wedding dress, the princess line style was characterized by the lack of the defined waist created by the conventional bodice/skirt combination as seen in these original photographs:

Portrait Princess Line Day Dress c. 1878 - 1881

Portrait Princess Line Day Dress c. 1878 - 1881

Now, here’s one interesting take on the style:

Princess Line Day Dress c. 1878

It’s difficult to make out the specific fabrics from the pictures but we assume that it’s silk. The color combination of pale green, chartreuse, brown and cobalt blue is interesting; not our first choice but it’s a bit different from what is normally seen from extant examples.

Princess Line Day Dress c. 1878

Side Profile

Princess Line Day Dress c. 1878

Rear View

One of the most interesting features of this dress is the use of a capote; that’s not something we’ve seen utilized with a dress. With its upright mandarin collar and capote, it’s more suggestive of outerwear, along the lines of a redingote. Below are some more pictures:

Princess Line Day Dress c. 1878

Upper Front with capote.

As can be seen from this close-up of the capote, it’s been artfully cut in layers so that there is no interruption to the pattern of the fashion fabric.

Princess Line Day Dress c. 1878

Back view with capote.

Princess Line Day Dress c. 1878

Close-up of the front.

Princess Line Day Dress c. 1878

Dress unbuttoned to show interior detail.

The interior detail shown here is interesting in that it employs the same fashion fabric underneath that’s also the outside on the cuffs, train and back.

Princess Line Day Dress c. 1878

Close-Up of the front.

As can be seen here, what we think is “brown” fabric is actually close brown stripes.

Princess Line Day Dress c. 1878

View of the train.

The train is characteristic of Mid-Bustle Era style, lot and fanning out. Not as extreme as some examples with the “mermaid tail” but the pleating does create a pleasing profile. Unfortunately, we know almost nothing about the dresse’s provenance or the construction details; all we can do is speculate from the available pictures. In terms of dating, it’s probably safe to say that it falls in the 1878 – 1881 period (although the picture that we obtained indicates 1878). We suspect that these pictures were part of some sort of auction listing although we were unable to find out anything specific. But, in spite of the lack of information, it’s still an interesting example of a style that had a fairly short lifespan. Hopefully, we’ll find out more in the future. 🙂