The Ornamented Being
Ornamented: -verb: Adorn; beautify
Be·ing: -noun: Fulfillment of possibilities; essential completeness
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Mantle, Evening
House of Worth (French, 1858–1956)
Late 1890s
Met
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“Tulipes Hollandaises” (textile)
House of Worth (French, 1858–1956)
c. 1889
Met
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I feel sure that no girl would go to the altar if she knew all.
Queen Victoria
As much as Queen V adored Prince A she wrote an awful lot of negative things about marriage.
c. 1890
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c. 1894
Look at how the bright coral peeks out from the cut outs in the fabric! Each fold is flawless and it’s the attention to detail that always has me coming back to this era. For Victorian women each piece of clothing was a statement. Women did not enjoy the freedom they do today and so in a way fashion became their great escape. They could express what they felt by adorning their bodies.
One of my favourite authors once said that “It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.” The way I look at my collection and the extant pieces I study is that this is not simply a piece of old fabric fashioned into a garment. This is a piece of what we once were, a testament to how far the human race has come.
I study what I study to make sure that in the future someone else will stand in my footsteps and feel the same yearning need to preserve this fragile whisper of history. The urge to cherish what is left of a bygone age.
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Mantle from the Empress Sisi Museum
The dark mourning color and high enclosing neckline suggest Sissi wore this late in her life.
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c. 1885
POMPOMS!!!!The V&A says: Elegant mantles such as this fanned out over the back of the skirt displaying the new bustle shape of the mid 1880s to perfection. They were know as dolmans and were characterised by loose sling-like sleeves cut with the body of the garment so that they resembled half-jacket, half-cape. Dolmans became popular for outdoor wear in the 1870s as their semi-fitted style revealed the shapely contours of the fashionable silhouette. When made of heavier materials such as velvet or fur, they proved ideal for spring or early autumn wear as they were less restricting and cumbersome than a coat. Often worn with a muff, dolmans were also loaded with trimmings, including feathers, ribbons and passementerie.
In this example, padded velvet balls are suspended from knotted silk cords to emphasise the backward projection of the skirt and to trim the ribbon bow fastened at the neck. Crimson balls are also attached along the tapered ends hanging down at the front, which were another typical feature of this style, helping to balance the design.
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Emile Pingat (French, active 1860–96)
c. 1891
The Met says: The Islamic iconography represented here in the appliqués shows Pingat’s knowledge and interest in Eastern cultures. His couture mix of the European aesthetic and cross-cultural detailing makes his work distinctly memorable. This mantle was designed with the shorter panel in the back to accommodate the skirt styles at the end of the century, which still had some fullness left over from the bustle silhouette of the previous decade.
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Another silk court dress with matching mantle, embroidered with gold thread and crystals. The decoration depicts lotus flowers.
