The Ornamented Being

Oh glory. I’m in love.

ca 1820, American, Silk

Is this not the most exquisite dress you’ve ever seen? It looks like the creator reached out their hand into the twilight and pulled the periwinkle fairy dust straight from the sky. 

The Met says this: The puffed sleeves of this dress are an indication to the historicism in dress at the time. As a reinterpretation of 16th-century slashing, they make a statement about the Renaissance and the rebirth of artistic notions. The beautiful hem detail is also typical of the period spanning 1820. These details gave weight and shape to an otherwise unbroken line of fabric, which was so prevalent in the decades prior to it. The Empire silhouette is readily identified with its origins in the chiton of ancient Greco-Romans, which was a tubular garment draped from the shoulders and sometimes belted beneath the bust. 

I think I understand what Hamlet means when he said, “… what dreams may come. When we have shuffled off this mortal coil. . .”

When we free ourselves from the confines of society, in this case the proper and accepted style of the 1820s, and dare ourselves to dream…well Hamlet said it the best: “… what dreams may come.”

I have to stop here for now, I have my own travels to begin and I know what I’ll be wearing in my dreams to fairyland tonight.