#silk dress

[kirstydreaming]

Carina

[creme-delacrem]

[woodsmanwife]

My wife Lydia in a silky red dress. I suppose she can be a tease sometimes, but she usually follows through. Let me know if you like it and I'll share more!

Please share!

[threadtalk]

Oh, saints. This dress combines so many things I love in one place!

First of all, we’re in the late 1830s (by my guess), a time of dress transition. You can see the influence of the Romantic with those sleeves, but the hint of later Victorian gowns in the bodice shaping. The particular bodice here is fan-pleated, which is pretty self-explanatory if you look at the way the fabric is both pleated and fanned out. I do adore the result. 

But, ahem, that damask? That color? Purple, always. Of course. For a 200 year old dress, the hue is still so striking. It is not Perkins Purple, however, as it’s two decades too early for that.

The weave? I damn near fell out of my chair looking at it. It’s one of those cases where I wish there were even higher resolutions so I could zoom in and see the stitches. Alas, we are not yet there in terms of technology, so I will instead cope with this.

And then it gets better. Because that silk damask? It’s almost 100 years older than the dress itself. UGH I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Could it have been Spitalfields? Maybe! It’s hard to say because we don’t have the provenance. 

From the Maryland Center for History and Culture.

[americanandwhore]

[dioravita]

Roberto Cavalli F/W 2004

[newestcool]

Ralph Lauren f/w 2006 rtw Creative Director Ralph Lauren  Newest Cool on Instagram

[kirstydreaming]

Nataly Chuiko

[atsev]

Mirror Palais 2023

[kirstysdreams]

Madison Iseman - not her best pose, but I 💗 the Alessandra Rich👗!

[threadtalk]

© CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection

That is the bluest kind of blue, and given its date (1866-1867) we know it's been dyed with the technologically cutting-edge aniline dyes of the period. As the museum (the Glasgow Museum) notes, some dresses of this era faded with time, but not so in this case.

You can already see the shape of this gown streamlining slightly, the bodice creeping toward the more tailored, masculine styles of the 1870s and 1880s. The monochrome look was very popular at the time, with the then-new House of Worth (who at the time was working with Bobergh). You can see very similar gowns from the duo at the Met, in fact, often in a gorgeous lavender hue.

[forestduck]

[chicinsilk]

US Vogue September 15, 1956

Anne St. Marie in a large festive dress in brown silk marquisette, decorated with a small matching vine vest edged with sable. From Sophie's made-to-order collection at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Anne St. Marie dans une grande robe de fête en marquisette de soie brune, agrémentée d'un petit gilet assorti en vignogne bordé de martre. De la collection sur commande de Sophie chez Saks Fifth Avenue.

Photo Frances McLaughlin vogue archive

[softestaura]

Mirror Palais backless silk dress