In The Name Of Love For The Sake Of Power

Brocaded burgundy velvet two-piece evening gown

c. 1884-1889

Attributed to dressmaker Mary G. Worley, St. Paul, Minnesota

Dress

c. 1897

worn in Cleveland, Ohio by Annie Otis Sanders

Dress

c. 1897

worn in Cleveland, Ohio by Annie Otis Sanders

Ball gown, 1900–1903. French. Silk.

Wedding Dress

France

House of Worth

This unique wedding dress is made of silk duchess satin and tulle.The skirt is decorated with handmade wax bouquets. They depict “fleur d’orange” — pure white flowers of the orange tree, which were a traditional element of wedding clothing and a symbol of virginity. The previous owner of the dress — Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) — dates it back to 1903-1904, but it is possible that it was made earlier. The ceinture (waistband of the bodice) carries an embroidered logotype of House of Worth.

Victoria Museum Kyiv, Ukraine

Robe à l’anglaise

c.1783

England; Fabric exported from India

Dress

Jenny Sacerdote

c.1926

Dressing Gown

1878-1879

United States

Russian, late 19th century

The sartorial hierarchy for ladies at the Russian court reached especially strict and stringent heights in the last decades of the nineteenth century, when color and length of train were dictated by rank and proximity to the Empress(es). One of the finest court dresses to have come on the market, this rare, complete imperial court ensemble of blue silk velvet must have, in accordance with its hue, been worn by a Grand Duchess. The ensemble is elaborately embroidered in gold metallic thread, consisting of a boned bodice with pointed waist and long, open hanging sleeves; blue velvet skirt continuing into a nine-foot train; and a plastron and underskirt of white silk satin embroidered in gold metallic thread.

A related court dress worn by the Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna is in the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Preserve.              

Mesh over cotton, trimmed with corn and artificial fruit, flowers and foliage. Sickle of painted board.                  

The enthusiasm for fancy dress balls, parties and other entertainments that grew throughout the 19th Century continued well into the following century. Aristocratic guests at the grand society costume balls held during this period often favoured outfits based on historical, mythological or literary characters, having access to images in family portraits, paintings, and illustrated books that they were able to have professionally interpreted by their tailors and court dressmakers. Many middle class women, for whom the making of fancy dress was a domestic pastime, took an enthusiastic creative approach, considerably aided by the publication of catalogues that offered dressmaking patterns for amusing abstract themed costumes, along with those of more conventional characters. This two-piece dress, made from gold mesh over broad bands of terracotta and golden yellow cotton possibly suggesting furrowed fields of stubble, represents Harvest. It is profusely decorated with bunches of grapes, berries, ears of corn, poppies and autumnal foliage. It was probably an ambitious, but inexpensive home-made project. Unused trimmings and remnants of cotton (one printed at the selvedge with the brand name ‘Silvasheen’, a low-priced sateen lining fabric widely available in 50 colours) survive with it. Although fairly roughly constructed by hand and machine, each band of colour has been painstakingly cut and seamed together, possibly with the guidance of a dressmaking pattern. The accompanying sickle is made of board, crudely painted in silver to imitate metal.

Additional Images also illustrate an earlier design for a Harvest or Gleaner outfit in Mrs Leach’s Fancy Ball Costumes catalogue, published in the 1880s.