The Ornamented Being
Ornamented: -verb: Adorn; beautify. Be·ing: -noun: Fulfillment of possibilities; essential completeness.
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I apologize if this is completely wrong. I used Google Translate so that I could understand the text. Apologies!
Black court dress, Empress Elisabeth
Manufacturer: Fanni Scheiner
Owner: Empress Elisabeth daughter of Maximilian of Bavaria Wittelsbach
1837 - 1898Black court dress of Empress Elisabeth
Vienna
about 1885At festive events wore ladies of the court, and at their head the Empress, dresses with trains, whose length was determined by the importance of the occasion.While these Hofkleider in the first half of the 19thCentury were mostly in bright colors was, in the early days black as very elegant.
The shown court dress of Empress Elisabeth has worked in two parts and consists of a skirt with cut and a train about to bear top with side falling waterfalls.
The carved from black silk moiré skirt on the rear center waist fixes a drapery of the same fabric that is twice bagged and filled with two large Moiréemaschen.The draping ends in a ruffle.The train is under the draping pleated and decorated the edge with Posamentriespitze and Jetperlen and with four stops.
The crafted from the same material top is reinforced with whalebone.It is closed at the front by round, covered with pearls Posamentrie and wooden buttons.The side of the closure of each peak with a waterfall and Posamentrie Jetverzierung.At the top of two downwardly tapered plastic parts are attached, the lead from the rear to the front waist center and frame the drape of the skirt.They are bordered with jetverzierter Posamentriespitze.The sleeves are decorated with sewn-shaped cuff and Musselinrüschen Posamentriespitze with Jetperlen.
In the girdle of the upper part of the company name Hofschneiderin Fanny Scheiner is woven, which could use that title since 1877.
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Carriages and Department of Court Uniforms
(Source: khm.at)
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After much debate I am pleased to announce that I will be attending the Regency Ball held during the Jane Austen festival in Bath on the 23rd of September.
I have started a mood board of ideas but they mostly revolve around gold and ivory. These are just a few of my favorite inspiration pieces.
The first is a detail of the Napoleon cameo in a portrait of Josephine. The next photo is the entire painting of Josephine by Andrea Appiani.
I am very inspired by the gown worn in the portrait of Elisabeth Alexeievna by Jean-Laurent Mosnier, 1802 Russia and by Catharina of Württemberg, 1807.
What are your favorite paintings from this period?
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“The Russian court dress was exceedingly picturesque and was donned for all bigger occasions. It consisted of amply cut velvet robes over a tablier of white satin; the shape, with its train, and wide, long-hanging sleeves, had something medival about it. These robes were heavily embroidered in silver or gold and were of every colour of the rainbow; the richest of all were of cloth of gold or silver. A halo-shaped cocoshnic (AN: kokoshnik) with a veil hanging from beneath it inevitably accompanied this costume, so that every woman appeared to have been crowned. This unity of attire made all Russian court gatherings uniquely picturesque, saturating them with colour and brilliance unlike anything else; veritable pictures out of the “Thousand and One Nights,” Byzantine in splendour, with all the mysterious gorgeousness of the East. In those days the processional entry of the Russian Imperial family into festive hall or saint-haunted church was a picture once seen never to be forgotten.” - Marie, Queen of Roumania, from the book “The Story of My Life”.
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Evening gown worn by Alexandra Feodorovna,
c. 1900
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Ball gown of Alexandra Feodorovna,
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Wu Zetian (624-705) was the only woman to ever rule as Empress of China. We show three depictions of her above: on the left is an antique portrait, on the right is a photo of an actress in a historical pantomime, and the center sketch shows Wu Zetian in the typical dress of the period. That’s the look we’re going for—Tang Dynasty style, strapless underdress, flowing transparent robe with huge sleeves. A company called Shanghai Tone makes an outfit that looks just right; link below. All you really need to do is add a crown.
The costume pieces, from left to right:
1. “Royal Queen Dress” from Shanghai Tone. Looks like a Wu Zetian outfit to us. Notice that the inner gown is very small; if you need larger than that, you can wear any strapless gown that doesn’t clash. For example, a black strapless from PacificPlex. The outer robe will probably work no matter what.
2. Back view of the outfit.
3. Gold crown. It’s labeled a “Queen of Siam” crown, but it’s really pretty basic and can easily work as a Chinese crown.
4. Optional wig. There’s apparently an unwritten rule that any remotely Asian-looking wig has to be labeled a “geisha wig.” Drives us nuts. Actually this is just the bouffant upsweep hairdo that women in China, Japan, and Korea have worn at various times for the past two thousand years. Tang Dynasty hairstyles tended to be big and poufy, so if you can’t do that with your own hair, you may want to try this wig.Makeup: Tang Dynasty ladies had some serious eyebrow action going on. This is how Carina Lau was made up to play Empress Wu Zetian in a recent movie:
Doesn’t she look awesome?
Wu Zetian was said to be ruthless, but there’s probably a lot of lurid male hysteria in the stories about her. She was definitely a very, very effective ruler, and China prospered under her reign.
