The Ornamented Being

“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”.

1. Corps, Alsace, vers 1770-1780

2. Paniers à charnières, France, vers 1775-1780

LAD

This is my Robe de Style and it’s very fragile! I was actually shocked at how heavy the lace is! It’s really heavy! I was worried about putting it on my mannequin because I didn’t want the dress to decide that after 92ish years it was tired of being attached! Happily everything stayed together!

The lace in the front is in wonderful condition but it’s shattering across the back. It’s turned to a lovely bronze colour due to age but under the waistband you can still see spots that show how bright the gold was at one time. Dresses from the 20s are infamous for using real precious metals during the weaving process and you can obviously feel the truth in that. I don’t mean to keep mentioning the weight but it’s the most surprising thing about the piece!  

The decoration at the waist is fashioned from French silk ribbon and velvet flowers wrapped in real gold and silver threads. They still catch the light brilliantly! I had a small flashlight out looking at the stitching last night and they glow like stars. I can’t imagine what she would have looked like in her prime!

I’m not sure if you can tell but the orange, blue, and red flowers/berries are all covered in velvet. The belt snaps on and the hanging pieces at the front and back remind me of a tunic. The edges are slightly padded with the gold lamé. 

Yesterday when I saw it in the shop I noticed something odd about the hem and when I got it home I realized someone had taken the skirt up. It’s pulled out on the side so the hem is originally 8” long but someone shortened the hem to 4”.

The gold gold bullion trim joining the gold lamé to the lace is also quite heavy! I was actually worried about the weight being the cause of the shattering around the join of the lace to the hem. The trim has faded to a bronze color due to age but like the lace there are a few spots where the stitching is out and you can see that it’s still a bright shiny gold. 

The underdress is rose gold lamé woven with gold thread and it’s also very heavy! I think that has become the common theme of this dress! There is some shattering around the hem and the threads are coming loose so you can feel the texture of the individual threads. The inside of the dress was a lovely rose chiffon but it’s shattering so badly that pieces crumble under your fingertips. 

The panniers are made into the dress and are just like 18th century panniers! There is a long piece of cotton tape on each side keeping the pannier shape. I want to say they are made of buckram but it’s so unusual because it’s soft but at the same time it’s stiff enough to keep the shape. 

I’m just in awe of the piece! I think it’s the grandest item in my collection!

Robe de Style Panniers

Early 20th century

Met

For more Robe de Style awesomeness check my tags.

I feel so incompetent. The only bad thing about using my parents computer during the holidays is I can’t find any of my sources. The website is on the tip of my tongue but I just can’t find it. It’s such an easy question to answer but I want a source to confirm it!! Argh!

If anyone could help me it would be much appreciated (and I would be grateful for any links).

Ok big question: Do panniers/pocket hoops go over the stays or do the stays go over the panniers/pocket hoops?

For my next theme I have received a request for underwear. When answering please keep in mind the Victorian era spans 64 years (officially 1837-1901) so please specify a date! I’ll cover the top three choices over the next few days.

My question is now which period do you want to see?

Edit: I’m going to let this run up to 100 notes then close the poll and announce the winners!

Courtesy of the Met of course.

Court dress, ca. 1750
British
Blue silk taffeta brocaded with silver thread

“In the eighteenth century, formal dress was so closely associated with Versailles and the French court that it was universally described as the robeà la française. As illustrated here, the robeà la françaisehas a fitted overdress. It is open at the front, with a decorative bodice insert called a stomacher covering the corset and an underskirt, the petticoat, showing under the splayed drapery of the overskirt.

In its most formal configuration, the robeà la françaisepresented a particularly wide and flattened profile accomplished by enlarged panniers. Constructed of supple bent wands of willow or whalebone and covered in linen, panniers took on broader or narrower silhouettes. The most remarkable held out the skirts like sandwich boards, barely wider than the body in side view, but as expansive as possible in front or rear view. As shown in the etching Les Adieux (33.22.1), a woman so garbed had to pass through a door sideways.”

Sometimes I wish this world still existed. 

French Dress (Robe à la Française), ca. 1765. 

“This court gown is said to have come from descendants of one of Queen Marie Antoinette’s Austrian ladies-in-waiting. As with most gowns of this type, there is a hidden economy in its construction. The petticoat, or underskirt, appears to be constructed of the rich brocade seen on the bodice and overskirt. However, a wide yoke of blue chintz is inserted to the upper sides and back of the petticoat and restricts the costly brocade to the areas where it is visible.

Costume historians have seen the lavish plenitude of handwoven silks consumed in the design of such gowns to be an explicit pronouncement of wealth and status. In addition, the nature of the gown’s construction, its tightly fitted and corseted bodice, and the wide expanse of its skirt dictated the privileged woman’s movements and imposed a number of challenges. The management of an eighteenth-century gown in as simple an act as sitting down “could highlight a person’s physical grace,” according to the historian Mimi Hellman, but it could also “expose the imperfections of the ungainly body.” From this perspective, the gown was not only a pronouncement of elite membership; it was also an instrument that tested a woman’s worthiness for society through the graceful choreography and negotiation of her dressed body.”