Teens

Structuring & Silhouette…

/ Adam Lid / Leave a comment

With the shift towards unstructured fashions during the 1910s, it appeared to many that the corset’s days were numbered as a major fashion item. Leading the way, designers such as Paul Poiret and Jeanne Margaine-Lacroix introduced styles that harkened back to Classical Greece and the Directoire, styles that were diametrically opposed to the tightly structured s-bend corset/pouter pigeon silhouette of the early 1900s.  However, while garments themselves were no longer structured to follow the lines of the corset, the corset still lived on in modified forms such as the ones pictured in this advertisements published in the August 15, 1914 edition of Vogue Magazine:

Vogue Aug 15 1914_Corset Ad

Now the emphasis was on styles that were free and unrestrained yet at the same time, the body was still structured. What is also interesting is that the advertisement refers to a style created by Margaine-Lacroix, a designer who had recently acquired notoriety for a series of skin-tight body contour dresses that defied convention. However as seen below, many of Margaine-Lacroix’s designs were squarely within the major trends of the time:

Margaine-Lacroix 1914

Margaine-Lacroix c. 1908 - 1910 Dress

Margaine-Lacroix, Dress, c. 1908 – 1910; Metropolitan Museum of Art (1979.346.32)

Margaine-Lacroix c. 1908 - 1910 Dress

Flat Detail View

Label

As with fashion in general, foundation garments were also changing but their effect was somewhat more muted and in another ten years, fashions would evolve into even more unstructured styles. Stay tuned for more as we bring forward various bits and pieces of fashion history for your please. 🙂

 

Haute Couture – 1910

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Haute Couture has played a major role in fashion history for over 100 years and its influence is felt today even in the “everyday” clothes that we wear today. For those with an interest in fashions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Parisian Haute Couture has exerted a near-irresistible force on perceptions and a focus for those attempting to recreate those fashions. What’s not to like? Exquisite fabrics, flawless construction, and an attention to detail that’s simply mind-boggling combine together to create what can only be called masterpieces of art.

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However, behind the glamour and beauty was the reality that these garments were created by armies of seamstresses, milliners, tailors, pattern makers, et al., laboring mostly behind-the-scenes. Recently, we came across some pictures that were part of a book published in 1910 entitled Les Créaeurs De La Mode  by Leon Roger-Mills which gives an overview of the fashion industry in Paris. We have not done a complete translation of the book but it’s safe to say that it was no doubt intended for public relations. What is especially interesting is that in contrast to 1900 or before, the various couture houses were forthcoming with information and permitted photography of their operations.

Up until the early 20th century, Couturiers were extremely averse to much in the way of publicity for fear (often rightly so) of others using that information to steal designs and create knock-offs. The House of Worth was especially adamant about avoiding the press and it wasn’t until the passing of Charles Worth that the House of Worth engaged in any sort of publicity.

As with today, Haute Couture of the time dealt in the creation of one-of-a-kind garments made custom to fit the individual client. While ready-to-wear was becoming commonplace, it was definitely absent in the world of Haute Couture. When a client came to a couture house to shop for a dress, various styles would be modeled and the client would make their selection (couture houses maintained crews of models who were available at a moment’s notice). In some cases, a style would be selected for the client by the designer (Charles Worth was especially noted for this).

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A key thing to note is that couture houses often worked off of standard patterns modified to the individual; underneath all the trim and decoration the pattern pieces were often simple and *relatively* uncomplicated. 🙂

Now we go behind the scenes…

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Atelier of Designers

From the designers to those who did the construction and assembly…

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And then final fitting:

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And finally, delivery:

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Parisian Haute Couture relied on an army of skilled specialists to execute the designs and they often worked in less-than-optimal working conditions and pay (needless to say, none of those people could afford the garments that they made). Today, Parisian Haute Couture is not as prominent or influential as it was 100 years ago but the legacy still lives on and it never fails to inspire us here at Lily Absinthe.

1914 Fashions – A Brief Overview

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1914 marked a violent transition between worlds which saw the unleashing of forces that ultimately saw the end of the stable and orderly political, social, and economic European-dominated world order. The events of the First World War ultimately led to a near-complete reordering of political, social, economic and cultural institutions that saw the elimination of the certainties of the prewar world and more importantly, it shattered people’s belief in a world that was constantly improving and becoming a better place for all.

As with other institutions, fashion was deeply affected by the war and the evidence can be readily seen in the shift in silhouettes away from the structured forms that had dominated fashions since the 19th Century. More profoundly, the war saw the introduction of more utilitarian designs in response to women’s changing role in society. Women were now increasingly working outside of the home, primarily in response to labor shortages due to men going off to war, women were increasingly working outside of the home and fashions evolved in response. At the same time, fashions changed in response to outside forces such as materials shortages and changing social attitudes. Finally, it must be noted that many fashion trends that occurred during the First World War did not represent a complete break with the past; many fashion trends we see during the war were a continuation of trends which had been developing from about 1908 on.

So what were some of the basic style details trending in 1914? First, the most obvious is that hemlines were significantly higher than anything previously. Since the early 1900s, hemlines (mostly in daywear) had been steadily moving up, starting with the ankle and moving up to the lower leg. Second, clothing had evolved towards a less structured silhouette with the introduction (or rather re-introduction) of the empire line/Directoire style. Also, this trend towards a more flowing, looser look was also inspired by Oriental fashions and the draped clothing of Classic Greece.

To begin, here are some typical day dresses from various sources. First, we start with some fashion plates:

1914 Pattern2

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And for some extant examples:

Below is a day dress from 1910:

Day Dress 1910

Day Dress, 1910; Glenbow Museum

And another day dress from c. 1914 – 1915:

Day Dress 1914

Day Dress, Anne Talbot, c. 1914 – 1915; Victorian & Albert Museum (T.166 to B-1967)

And finally, one from c. 1915:

Day Dress, c. 1915; Victoria & Albert Museum (T.17-1960)
Three-Quarters Front View
Rear Detail
Front Left Side Detail
Front Right Side Detail
Front Detail
Three-Quarter Front View
Front Detail

For evening/formal wear, one can see a variety of new designs to include the return of the empire/Directoire style:

Evening Dress, Lucile Ltd. (Lady Duff-Gordon), c. 1914; from Charles A. Whitaker Auction Company
Three-Quarter Front View
Evening Gown, c. 1913 – 1914; National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo, Norway (OK-1962-0008)
Three-Quarter Rear View

The influence of Orientalism can be seen here:

Evening Gown, Callot Soers, c. 1910 – 1914; from Augusta Auctions
Rear View
Label
Close-up of the detail.
Full Rear View

Probably one of the most dramatic designs were those by Mariano Fortuny and in particular, his Delphos Dress which was reminiscent of Classical Greece:

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Delphos Dress – Mariano Fortuny, c. 1910

So by 1914 the perfectly sculpted, corseted figure created by the s-bend corset had disappeared and while clothes still retained some structure, that structure came from the clothes themselves, rather than from the undergarments. However, to be sure, structured undergarments were still worn but the effect tended to be more subtle and not so obvious.

One other significant trend was the movement away from the hobble skirt. Originally developed by Paul Poiret around 1908, the hobble skirt with it’s narrow skirt was visually appealing but severely inhibited the wearer’s movement. Below is just one example of the controversial hobble skirt style from 1910:

Evening Gown, c. 1910; Kerry Taylor Auctions
Rear View
Close-up of front.
Detail of Roseettes
More detail of beadwork.
Close-up of bead work.

Later, the more extreme features of the style were somewhat mitigated by various designers by including hidden gussets and various other contrivances in an effort to restore practical movement yet maintain the style. Jeanne Paquin was noted for including incorporating hidden pleats at the bottom of her dresses to allow for more fuller movement, such as with this dress:

Jeanne Paquin - Hobble Skirt

Finally, to conclude, here are a couple of humorous views of the hobble skirt trend:

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Punch, 1910

Hobble Skirt Postcard

For the fashion world in France, the outbreak of the war in 1914 was a catastrophe. With the country mobilizing for war and Paris under threat from the advancing German armies, there was mass economic disruption and the bottom fell out of the luxury goods markets resulting in mass layoffs and many of the great fashion houses either closing or scaling back their business. With the Battle of the Marne eliminating the threat German to Paris, the war settled into a long-term affair and the fashion industry was able to recover by by contracts for the production of uniforms for an expanding French Army.

The preceding survey is just a small has been a brief one and we are admittedly painting with an extremely large brush. However, we want to emphasize that fashion never exists in isolation from the rest of society and that it is subject to the influence of world events. For the fashion world, the First World War marked a definite and final break with the past. In future blog posts, we’ll further explore these themes so stay tuned.

Nadezhda Lamanova- Between Two Worlds, Part 2

/ Adam Lid / 2 Comments

In our last post, we took a brief look at the career(s) and work of the Russian designer Nadezhda Lamanova as she built a reputation as a designer of Haute Couture for Russia’s upper classes and subsequently reinvented herself as an avant garde designer for the masses in the new revolutionary Russia. Now we’re going to take another look at Lamanova’s designs prior to 1917. To start, here is one particularly striking example from circa 1910 – 1914:

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Evening Dress, Nadezhda Lamanova, c. 1912 – 1914; State Hermitage Museum

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Rear View

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Side Profile

The above dress design reflects the shift from the earlier tightly structured silhouette of the S-bend corset towards a more vertical silhouette employing a tubular dress shape. Make no mistake about it, the underpinnings were still there but now the dress flowed loosely in a manner reminiscent of the Classical Grecian Chiton.

The dress itself is two layers, the underlayer composed of a turquoise/jade green satin and an overlayer consisting of a black chiffon embroidered a floral motif consisting of the flowers and leaves of chrysanthemums. The embroidery itself is in a golden-green silk and gold thread. One can see the combination of different textures, contrasting colors and a separate overlayer with metallic embroidery creates a three dimensional effect to the dress and this is especially evident when one looks at the train. The above pictures simply do not do justice to the dress.

Now, for something a little different from the Mid-1890s. This is a visiting dress that belonged to the Empress:

Day Dress Princess Line Mid 1890s c. 1894-1897 Visiting

Visiting Dress, Nadezhda Lamanova, Mid 1890s; State Hermitage Museum

Day Dress Princess Line Mid 1890s c. 1894-1897 Visiting

Day Dress Princess Line Mid 1890s c. 1894-1897 Visiting

Close-Up

The above visiting dress is from the mid-1890s, characterized by the leg of mutton or Gigot sleeve style and it’s a princess line dress. According to the description, the fashion fabric is of an ivory/cream (depending on the light) silk velvet. Metallic sequins have been stitched to create a vine motif with vertical lines of sequins suggesting some a trellis of sorts which serves to accentuate the vertical lines/silhouette of the dress.

The above examples are a tiny fraction of Lamanova’s output and they reflect the major fashion trends of the times and while much of what she created was fairly mainstream conventional as in the case of the above visiting dress, there were also attempts to push boundaries such as in the case of the above green ballgown. It wasn’t until after the revolution that Lamanova came into her own as a designer, creating ready-to-wear designs for the masses while at the same time creating avant garde designs. Lamanova is a designers that we should know more about.

Postscript: We find it amazing that so many dresses of the early 1900s have managed to survive revolutionary turmoil and two world wars. 🙂 


Nadezhda Lamanova- Between Two Worlds, Part 1

/ Adam Lid / 2 Comments

As with many of our posts, the subject of this one started with one topic but ended with a completely different topic. Initially, we came across some pictures of a ballgown that had been designed in the early 1900s for the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, consort of the Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia. Then, we noted that the designer was a one Nadezhda Lamanova. What was interesting here was that it was both a designer that was unknown to us and even more striking was that she was female. While almost all of the labor force making Haute Couture dresses were female, it was rare that the designer was female, at least before the 1920s.

Who was Nadezhda Lamanova? Unfortunately, there is not a lot in English about her but here’s what we did find out: Lamanova was born on December 14, 1861 in Nizhni Novgorod, Russia and died in Moscow on October 15, 1941 at the age of 79. Due to her parents’ death at an early age, in 1877 she underwent training as a seamstress at the Moscow School of Sewing. Two years later, she went to work for a fashion house. In 1885, she opened her own dressmaking shop in Moscow and successfully built up her business;  until it had become the most popular dressmaking establishment in Moscow. At some point (the translation is unclear), she traveled to Paris and met up with Paul Poiret-  hopefully we can find out more about this in the future. Eventually, her work came to the attention to the Imperial Court and she was designated as “Supplier of the Court of Her Imperial Majesty” with her designs being worn by the ladies of the Court and the Empress herself.  Finally,  starting around 1901, Lamanova also designed costumes for theatrical productions.

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Early portrait of Nadezhda Lamanova, date unknown.

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Nadezhda Lamanova, portrait by Valentin Serov, 1911.

However, it’s after the Russian Revolution where Lamanova’s career became even more interesting. Arrested in 1919 by the Bolshevik Government (having been an officially designated designer for the Imperial Court could easily have been her death warrant), she was freed by the intervention of the writer Maxim Gorky after spending about 2 1/2 months in prison. Afterwards, she focused on designing theatrical costumes (presumably rehabilitating herself in the eyes of the Bolshevik regime in the process).

The Bolshevik Revolution- Big changes were coming to Russia…

By early 1920s, Lamanova had started designing clothing aimed at the masses, drawing upon traditional Russian dress and even some of her designs were incorporated in an official graphic “how-to” booklet called “Art in Everyday Life” in the form of simple clothing patterns. Below are two samples:

During the 1920s and 1930s, Lamonova’s designs were successfully displayed in various exhibitions outside of Russian and at the same time she continued to design costumes for both the theater and film. Below are just a few examples of her work:

Outfit by Nadezhda Lamanova inspired by traditional costumes of northern peoples, 1923; modeled by the actress Alexandra Hohlova.

Actress Alexandra Hohlova modelling another dress design by Lamanova, 1924.

Lilichka Brik (seated) with her sister Elsa Triolet in folk-inspired dresses by Lamanova, 1925.

Lamanova fashions from the 1920s.

So, what dress is it that got us travelling down this unusual path? Here is is:

Ballgown, c. 1900, Nadezhda Lamanova; presumably in the collection of the Hermitage.

Close-up of Bodice

Close-Up of the Dress

This is a ballgown that was created in the early 1900s. Unfortunately, specific details (in English, at least) are scanty but based on the dress style, we are probably looking at sometime around 1900. While there is a tipped waist line, the bodice does not display the “pigeon breast” effect characteristic of the early 1900s. For materials, we have white satin with tulle and chiffon that has been decorated with sequins and embroidery. As with any of these dresses, the hours of hand-labor put into the embroidery and attaching the sequins is simply mind-numbing.

This ballgown is stunning and it epitomizes the luxury of the Russian Court. At the same time, know some about the designer, it’s amazing that  Nadezhda Lamanova was able to successfully reinvent herself at a time when anyone with an association to the Ancien Regime, no mater how remote, was suspect and oftentimes a one-way ticket to the firing squad. In the next installment, we will look at some more of Lamanova’s work prior to 1917. Stay tuned!

To Be Continued…