The Duchess of d’Angouleme by Baron Antoine-Jean Gros, 1817 France,
The Bowes Museum
I know I’ve posted this before but I still love it!
This is the description of the first costume: Emile Pingat (1820–1901), Paris, Skirt and polonaise, 1885. Velvet, beads, silk, glass. Collection of Shelburne Museum. 2010-75
Emile Pingat has taken a page from the 18th century, adapting a classical men’s court ensemble and feminizing it. Instead of breeches that match the coat, there is a long velvet skirt finished with a ruffle. The apparent waistcoat is not a separate garment but instead is constructed as two decorative panels set into the coat. Pingat has updated the style and beauty of aristocratic men’s clothing by adding the small pointed zigzag motif in the embroidery. This one-of-a-kind colonial revival style dress would have been worn to a ball or masquerade with appropriate accessories that could have included a wig, fan, and shoes.
”The 18th Century Back in Fashion” exhibit, Palace of Versailles. Victorian take on 18th century dress.
(Source: collection.shelburnemuseum.org)
Wine and Ivory Jacket
Jacket made of heavy wool in wine and cream. Tight fitting, hip-length jacket with stand-up collar. Front attached vest is ornately trimmed with maroon machine embroidery. The same trim is found on the shoulder, bottom of sleeve and on the back. Skirt of the jacket is shaped to fit over a bustle. c. 1890s.
The jacket was worn by Jessie Webb Corwin’s mother, Jessie Mason Webb.
c. 1890s
Wedding Ensemble
c. 1878
The Met says: While white is now de rigueur for bridal attire, the fashion for white wedding gowns originated only in the late 19th century and was not commonplace until the 20th century. This dress is a good example of the more practical 19th century practice of brides wearing colored gowns for weddings. The wedding dresses could then be worn again for other receptions and social events. A well-made and finely-detailed example of the period, this dress would have been described as a “cuirass” or “cuirass style” at the time it was made, a term that refers to the form-fitted bodice. A steel-boned corset helped to achieve the ideal figure for the cuirass style in the 1870s and 1880s.
Robe 1775-1780 V&A
This one is rumored to be a Wedding Gown:
By the late 1770s, the sack-back gown, of which this is an example, was reserved for formal evening or Court dress. The shape of the petticoat, requiring a wide square hoop, also indicates the formality of the ensemble. An arc of precise, wedge-shaped pleats illustrates how the gown was shaped to fit over such a hoop.
The plain fabric and restrained decoration are typical of the late 1770s. Broad and narrow strips of the white silk satin have been edged with silk fringe, gathered and applied to the gown in undulating lines. The fringe is made of looped and knotted floss silk and chenille thread. Lengths of this fringe form tassels which hang from the gown and would have swung and danced as the wearer moved
c. 864
Met: A rounded shoulderline that enhanced the length of the neck was prized through most of the nineteenth century. From the 1830s to the 1880s, it was accomplished by the lowered splayed stance of corset straps. The open neckline apparent in this wedding dress and the underbodice of this summer gown from the period suggests its romantic effect.
Wedding robe of King Gustave III of Sweden (1746-1792)Court pomp and royal ceremonies in Europe 1650-1800
An exhibition of court dress at Versailles shows how clothes became a visual demonstration of the hierarchy of power within the royal families of EuropeWedding robe of King Gustave III of Sweden (1746-1792)
