The Ornamented Being
Ornamented: -verb: Adorn; beautify
Be·ing: -noun: Fulfillment of possibilities; essential completeness
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I’m thinking that a hobble skirt post might be coming up soon.
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Liane de Pougy, the courtesan who became a princess.
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This has to be one of the most beautiful bonnets I have ever come across.
c.1865 - 1870
Summary description
Hat - Made from straw plait 0.5cm wide and handstitched through overlapped plait in a spiral from the crown centre and painted white outer stitching. The head and the side are lined with cream silk and the brim is faced with Venetian pink grosgrain. The brim edge is wired. The hat is trimmed with a band of twisted strip of pink grosgrain with a frill above and below of Honiton lace (two pieces of different quality). There is a cream ostrich feather over the crown. There was originally a black elastic fastening which has been replaced with black velvet ribbon pinned in place. (female)
Provenance
Charles Paget Wade Collection, Snowshill manor
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1860 - 1970
Summary description
Bonnet - Blue-black silk velvet and Venetian pink satin. Fully lined with black tafetta. Stiffened black net with wired edge. Trimmings of loop and tail velvet over crown. Brim and forehead band trimmed with pink cotton rose, rosebuds and russet leaves. Cream machine lace forehead band. Fastenings of long wide ties of dawn pink ribbed silk with black velvet ribbon stripe. To tie under chin. (Probably altered). (female)
Provenance
Charles Paget Wade, Snowshill Manor
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c. 1865-70
Summary description
Fanchon bonnet - Made from yellow satin and silk georgette in rows of box pleats across the bonnet and lined with yellow georgette. It is constructed on a wire frame. The bonnet is edged with machine blond-style lace. There is a satin ribbon bow centre front. There is a bar decorated with cornflowers, poppies, daisies and ferns of coloured, stiffened cotton and feathers. There are yellow satin ribbon ties and false ties of georgette and satin held with satin and lace bow at the throat. There are narrow ties of cream silk fringed ribbon. See SNO.TC.1123/1125. (female)
Provenance
Charles Paget Wade Collection, Snowshill Manor
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I plan on being ridiculously busy this weekend so for Monday I’ll continue on with the shoe theme but move to heels. I think Monday’s post will most likely end up being two days if people aren’t sick of me posting! I’m thinking about starting off with chopines, any objections there? Who knows I might even throw in a pair of 17th century heels for fun!
I’m also planning on branching out into my favorite modern heels. GASP! What is that? Ornamented Being is going post something past 1920!!!! (On very rare occasions I’ll post something from the 30s or the 50s but I draw the line there!)
Here is a teaser for Monday. This pair of shoes happen to be my absolute favorite heels from the Victorian era. Out of 64 years of fashion these have always had my heart.
“The ankle-strap or ankle-tie shoe, as illustrated by this pair of evening shoes, was worn primarily in the late 1870s and 1880s. Slippers with comparatively high backs were a trend from the 1870s, and it seems that the feature of the peaked or raised quarter may have led naturally to the ankle-tie style. Although novel and fashionable at the time, the style does not appear to have been very widely worn. Satin boots were widely worn for evening in the 1860s and early 1870s, and this hybrid style can be seen as a compromise between the boot and the slipper.”
I like to play Polyvore with images and when I do that I ignore time periods. These two were begging to be posted together!
“The style of this hat is based on men’s headwear. The crown shape was popular in the 1880s. The hat matches well with the English tailor-made suit, a form that gained popularity at this time because it accommodated an increasingly active lifestyle. The medium, beaver was a sought after-material for millinery in the 19th century, preferred for its luster and elegant appearance.”
Both pieces live at the Met (where I wish I could live also!)
