Perhaps a bit overdressed to take Angus for a walk, but when in Tombstone…
🙂
Victorian Fashionista
A Few More From Tombstone For The Holidays
And to follow up on a previous post, here’s a few more pictures from Tombstone from a previous Tombstone Historic Home Tour. 🙂
Putting the final touches on a dress… 🙂
Something Different For 1890s Style
Fashion design often involves the use of various optical effects to achieve a certain look and this was as much true in the 19th Century as it is today. Today we feature an interesting dress that was made by Huet & Chéruit, a fashion house that was started by Madame Louise Chéruit Louise Chéruit (nee Huet) later married married Prosper Chéruit on August 28, 1895. and her sister Marie Huet in the Mid-1890s:
Raudnitz & Co., Evening Dress, c. 1895-1900; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.2541a–c)
The fashion fabric is interesting in that it’s actually a silk print that’s meant to mimic fur- sealskin readily comes to mind here for us. Jeweled lace trim frames the neckline and the shoulders over a black silk velvet neckline. The arms and dress are also trimmed in chinchilla fur as well as the hemline. The outline of the train is further enhanced by chinchilla fur, acting as a framing device.
The above side profile provides a nice view of the train and the chinchilla fur trim. Here’s a close-up of the lower skirt:
The lace further enhances the overall effect at the hem. Now for a close-up of the fashion fabric:
Finally, here’s a portrait of Louise Chéruit:
Paul Helleu, “Madame Louise Chéruit,”1898
Although Louise Chéruit was to become more prominent as a couturière in the Teens and 1920s, it’s interesting to get a taste of the talent that was to come into full flower later on. It’s interesting that she is one of the first to give Paul Poiret his start in fashion.
And Now For Something A Little Different From Maison Worth
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
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… 🙂