#19th century aesthetics

[diemelusine]

Boulevard in Paris (1885) by Akseli Gallen-Kallela. Turku Art Museum.

[yeatsihrig]

Wing Study, oil on canvas, 2023.

"The woods decay, the woods decay and fall,

The vapours weep their burthen to the ground,

Man comes and tills the field and lies beneath,

And after many a summer dies the swan...'

-Alfred, Lord Tennyson

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Illness-chic, Femininity, and Ableism

Great video by Mina Le on the legacy of 19th-century tuberculosis fashionability. And the thing is, this image of the "woman of a delicate constitution" is a new idea in the 19th century. It's a response to social anxieties about the role of women in a world where technology and mass migration have upended old social rules that clearly defined a woman's place. So there's this drive to make the qualities of femininity inherent and inescapable in a physical way by saying they're naturally weaker, prone to fright and illness, and that these qualities are to be desired.

I don't know if that's exactly the same thing that's happening right now, although certainly there's a fresh wave of technological and economic upheaval that is making people nervous about gender roles again. But the illness-chic of today has this dimension of wanting a socially acceptable way in which to ask for or give care/affection/attention. We've become so thoroughly alienated from each other and find vulnerability so unacceptable that we have to ask for it in what seems like a socially-sanctioned way--through the narrative of illness.

Of course, what a lot of people don't seem to realize is that our late-stage capitalist society is already so heartless that even illness isn't a real refuge for anyone. As chronically ill people can tell you, we're expected to just "get better" because it's unacceptable for sick people to remain sick when the value of human life is based on economic productivity. And when you fail to complete the expected narrative of getting better and going back to being a worker cog, people turn on you. We all have stories about this shit. It's why we have to be careful about who we let into our lives.

[die-rosastrasse]

François Martin-Kavel & pink fabrics

French, 1861-1931

[abnormes]

the other side by dean cornwell (1918)

[kustavglimt]

Alexandre Dubois-Drahonet: detail of Female nude, back view (1831)

[bebs-art-gallery]

A Deep Sea Idyll

— by Herbert James Draper

[edwardian-girl-next-door]

Some belated photos from the "Fashioned by Sargent" exhibit at the MFA Boston. My pictures just don't do it justice! I'm not one for hyperbolics, but it literally took my breath away, even with the crowds of people everywhere.

evening dress by the House of Worth (c.1880); owned by Sarah Choate Sears, who Sargent painted in another dress in 1889

reflection of Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth (1889); costume designed by Alice Comyns Carr and created by Ada Nettleship

evening dress with matching shoes by the House of Worth (c.1895)

Mrs. Charles E. Inches (Louise Pomeroy) (1887); dress made in 1887 and likely altered 1902. Louise was pregnant at the time of her portrait, and if you look very closely, you can see the dress skirt has adjustable panels to accommodate a changing body.

photos by me (@edwardian-girl-next-door)

[wh0-is-lily]

Undergarments of The Edwardian Era

[sayxit]

Spooky Lace

[escapismsworld]

The Queen of the Night

1818

Simon Quaglio

[diemelusine]

A classical beauty by John William Godward (1861-1922). Collection of Fred and Sherry Ross.

[yeatsihrig]

Hand studies for Boreas, oil on paper, 2022

[blistexenthusiast]

19th century wax seals

[die-rosastrasse]

The Sleep of Sorrow and the Dream of Joy by Raffaelle Monti

Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 02 IX 2017

[abnormes]

Ophelia by Friedrich Heyser