#historic dresses

[resplendentoutfit]

John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925) • Portrait of Louise Pomeroy Inches • 1887 • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Evening Dress • Unidentified Maker • American • Silk velvet with silk plain weave lining

How wonderful that such a well-preserved dress exists to enliven a famous portrait painting! This dress is one of my favorites for a couple of reasons – firstly, I love velvet and this silk velvet is the real deal – gorgeous. Secondly, I've seen the portrait many times at the MFA in Boston. The dress was in a glass case at the blockbuster Fashioned by Sargent exhibition also at the MFA.

I've read that Louise Inches was expecting her third child when she sat for this portrait and that the dress had been designed to accommodate extra panels as her figure expanded. She and Sargent got on well. Both were music lovers and accomplished musicians.

[missingsisterstill]

Posted by/at https://missingsisterstill.tumblr.com/

[frostedmagnolias]

Ballet costume worn by Anna Pavlova for “The Swan”, silk and sequined cotton

believed to be worn c. 1910s-1920s

credit: Museum of London

[fashion-from-the-past]

Annika Caswell a student from the Wimbledon School of Art wardrobe department, dressed as Catherine Parr, next to her portrait attributed to Master John, c. 1545 in the National Portrait Gallery, London. * The students are recreating portraits dating from the Tudor period to the 19th century which have been inspiration for their lavish costumes . (Photo by Rebecca Naden - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)

[die-rosastrasse]

Ball gown, 1840-41

Maker: Unknown

From the collection of Wien Museum

[fashionsfromhistory]

Dressing Gown

1878-1879

United States

Peabody Essex Museum (Object Number: 133939)

[marzipanandminutiae]

Of course, the burkini ban is messed up on grounds of religious freedom and racial discrimination. But also

Under any other circumstances, people would be HORRIFIED at a government mandate that women have to show a certain amount of skin. Like. That’s fucking dystopian, and the absolute opposite of feminism. If a government tried to pass a law that all women had to wear tube tops and miniskirts to go outside, people would rightfully be up in arms demanding blood

But because it’s targeting a marginalized religious group, many folks are lauding the blatant forced sexualization of women. Appalling

(apparently the ban also outlaws things like sun – protecting bathing suits if they cover too much skin. Which like. Yes, let’s give everyone skin cancer just so we can spite a religion we’ve decided to hate. Sounds like a good plan </s>)

[empirearchives]

Black empire style gown

Tulle and silk

C. 1800-1810, Napoleonic era

Centraal Museum, Utrecht

[jewellery-box]

ORGANDY WEDDING GOWN, 1940s

[resplendentoutfit]

Antonio de la Gándara (French, 1861-1917) • Portrait de Madame Louisa de Mornand, également connu sous La Femme au chien (Women with a Dog) • 1907

Left: Shot silk dresses

Right: Day dress c. 1850′s • John Bright Historic Costume Collection

Shot silk is a fabric which is made up of silk woven from warp and weft yarns of two or more colours producing an iridescent appearance. – Wikipedia

[maeirys]

Sir Gideon Nav and her Lady Harrowhark Nonagesimus, representing the Ninth house at the king's joust.

[frostedmagnolias]

white cotton muslin dress with green floral print

1860s

maker unknown

Fashion Museum Bath

[la-belle-histoire]

In the Country, Alfred Stevens. 1867.

[luxus-aeterna]

baroque gentle lady | IG

[fashion-from-the-past]

Elisabeth de Caraman-Chimay, Comtesse Greffulhe (1860–1952) made this dress famous by posing in it for the photographer Nadar in 1896. The museum also possesses the photographs made at the time, in which the elegant countess opted for being photographed in back view so as to highlight the slimness of her waist: this close-fitting 'princess line' dress – there were no seams at waist level – and the sinuous lines of the lily plants accentuate the impression of tallness and slenderness.

One of the leading figures on the Paris social scene – not only for her rank and sovereign elegance, but also for her culture and intelligence – Comtesse Greffulhe was a significant source of inspiration for Marcel Proust, who used her as the model for the Duchesse de Guermantes in Remembrance of Things Past. She was also the cousin of Robert de Montesquiou, who drew on her for some of his poems, including a sonnet whose closing line Beau lis qui regardez avec vos pistils noirs ('Beautiful lilies gazing with your black pistils') doubtless refers to this dress. The bertha collar, whose original form was altered, certainly during its owner's lifetime, could be turned up to form bat's wings; a bat being Montesquiou's emblematic animal, making this a true dress-poem.

[crinolinecuriousity]

Dress & Details | c.1890s | British or French