The Victorian Designer

Tissot- For Artistic Inspiration

/ Adam Lid / Leave a comment

Today we offer a little artistic inspiration by way of this portrait of the Princesse de Broglie that was painted by James Tissot in 1895:

James Tissot, The Princesse de Broglie, 1895

The first thing that caught our eye was Tissot’s use of analogous colors with shades of green on the cape and shades of yellow on the dress. The green colors on the cape are especially interesting in that we see shades of color accentuated by various textures: light green feathers for trim, slightly darker green on the pleated silk collar, and a variegated fashion fabric of gold and green. The overall effect is amazing. The evening dress the sitter is wearing definitely takes second place with a yellow fashion fabric trimmed with a darker yellow on the hem, collar, and belt.  Finally, to tie it all together, there’s a choker collar of dark blue with gold that immediately draws the eye to the sitter’s face. Tissot has done a brilliant job here and one can almost feel a visual harmony of coolness, evoking a sense of spring and summer and some reason our minds are drawn to Monet’s home at Giverny…

 

In terms of garments, greens have always been a favorite with us and many of our designs have incorporated similar colors:

We have by no means exhausted the design possibilities using these colors and anticipate creating more designs in the future. 🙂


Photoshop? Yeah, They Had It…Sort Of…

/ Adam Lid / Leave a comment

Manipulating photos to create a more favorable image has been around as long as photography itself. Commonly referred to today as “Photoshopping,” images were manipulated so as to modify the human figure to more closely resemble the “ideal” body type of the era. In the case of 19th Century images, there was a heavy emphasis on a narrow waist and especially during the 1890s. Below is one interesting example of “photoshopping” with this interesting portrait of the Archduchess Maria Christina Henriette Desideria Felicitas Raineria of Austria who became Queen of Spain in 1879.1We were unable to find a specific date when this picture was taken but supposedly it was around 1891, which seems consistent with the style.

Fairly standard as far as portraits of the period go but take a closer look above the hips…

One can just barely make out where the sides were airbrushed in so as to accentuate the waist. The outlines of the original shape can still be seen but with the editing, the already wasp-waist is further accentuated. We’ve come across quite a few examples looking at period pictures and it just goes to show that when it comes to fashion, nothing is really new. 🙂

And For Some More Mauve…

/ Karin McKechnie-Lid / Leave a comment

Pleating takes time, but it’s the understitching to the foundation skirt that takes even longer!  🙂

 

 


Mauve Monday…Why Not?

/ Karin McKechnie-Lid / Leave a comment

And because it’s Monday… 🙂

 


More On The Ensemble Dress

/ Adam Lid / Leave a comment

Here’s another ensemble dress from Maison Worth, also from circa 1893. Style-wise, it’s similar to the example that we presented in yesterday’s post but perhaps a little more restrained. Here are a few views:

Worth 1893 Day Reception Afternoon Dress

Worth, Ensemble Dress, c. 1893; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.620a–e)

To us, this bodice reads visiting/afternoon dress, more of a formal day-oriented garment. Below, the bodice reads more of a reception dress or possibly evening dress- although that’s probably stretching things a bit.

Worth 1893 Day Reception Afternoon Dress

The Alternate Bodice

Once again, we see a jacket style for the day bodice with a filler of tulle. The skirt and jacket bodice are a pea-green silk brocade with black lace trim and accents. The night bodice with its light cinnamon colored silk velvet provides a pleasant contrast to the pea green. Compared to yesterday’s example, this dress is a bit more restrained but it’s still a nice design. The silk brocade fabric is interesting and we only wish that there were some close-up pictures of the fabric detail. It’s evident that both the dress and the one in yesterday’s post used identical or fairly similar pattern pieces. Finally, here’s an interesting part of the ensemble- matching shoes:

Worth 1893 Shoes

Matching shoes to outfit.

Stay tuned for more posts on this subject. 🙂