Hello, all! I have a series of meaty posts in the works, but they're not quite ready yet, so let me tell you about the most recent visit I made for patterning at the Albany Institute. I've really been concentrating on outerwear, as there are so many extant gowns with interesting construction or trims or … Continue reading The Latest Patterning Visit
Tag: 19th century
Perfection Salad
Library book sales are wonderful, and the one here in Greenwich is especially well-stocked. I'm always coming across books that I've been wanting to read but forgot to request from the library or seek out specifically. The two I found last month were Perfection Salad (by Laura Shapiro) and Good Wives (by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich). Perfection Salad examines … Continue reading Perfection Salad
Emile Pingat (1820-1901)
For various reasons, certain designers have stuck in the collective consciousness as being the single greatest creative minds of their times. Gabrielle Chanel and Madeleine Vionnet are good examples: as you know, some hold them up as the only important couturiers of the 1920s because they're the two remembered couturiers of the 1920s. When it comes … Continue reading Emile Pingat (1820-1901)
Mrs. Joseph Mead's Slippers, 1856
Wedding slippers, 1966.21.3a-b (pattern available at link) Unfortunately, I don't know anything about Joseph Mead's unnamed wife. And her wedding gown either no longer survives or is being held somewhere else. The attribution might not even be correct - it's based on a handwritten note placed inside one shoe (the handwriting does look to be Victorian, … Continue reading Mrs. Joseph Mead's Slippers, 1856
Mary DeLong West's Wedding Dress, 1896
1976.139.2, pattern available on site As it says at the site, this was "worn by Mary DeLong in 1896 when she married Charles F. West." And you can see it on Mary as well - in the photograph, there's some beaded trim running around the middle of the collar and on the edges of the … Continue reading Mary DeLong West's Wedding Dress, 1896
Mimic of Modes 