#antebellumfashion

[victoriamartinezwriter]

Elizabeth Keckley, née Hobbs (1818-1907) is the feature of the final #FemaleFriday of Black History Month. Through sheer determination and talent as a seamstress, Keckley bought her way out of slavery to become a successful and much-sought-after entrepreneur in late-Antebellum Washington, D.C. Just before the Civil War, she counted among her clients the wives of the capital’s ruling elite, including Varina Davis, wife of the future Confederate President Jefferson Davis. When President Abraham Lincoln took office in 1861, Keckley was hired by First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln as her personal dressmaker. The two women became close, comforting and supporting one another through tragedies. In 1868, Keckley published her memoir, “Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House” (https://amzn.to/2TVaIc1), which she hoped would vindicate the former First Lady, who had been openly criticized in the American press for selling her own and the late President’s belongings to pay off her debts. Unfortunately, it backfired, and both her friendship with Lincoln and her reputation among her elite clientele were badly damaged. Like the other three women I have featured this month, at least one major (non-fiction) book has been written about her: “Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly: The Remarkable Story of the Friendship Between a First Lady and a Former Slave” (2003) by Jennifer Fleischner (https://amzn.to/2IkufRD). There is also good information online about Elizabeth Keckley, including a 2013 feature in Smithsonian Magazine (https://tinyurl.com/y2ohyls4), an extensive blog post with great photos published in 2016 by The National Museum of American History (https://tinyurl.com/y5gh6apz), and an “Overlooked No More” obituary published in The New York Times in December 2018 (https://tinyurl.com/yc9x56n4). Elizabeth Keckley, circa 1861, from the collection of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University, and sourced from The White House Historical Association (https://www.whitehousehistory.org/elizabeth-keckley). #BlackHistoryMonth #ElizabethKeckley #WomensHistory #WomenEntrepreneurs #AntebellumFashion https://www.instagram.com/victoriamartinezwriter/p/BuMlDY-ghU6/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ebau7h9zyhwq

[drawingfashionhistory]

Day 25 of #HistoricalApril is "novelty and innovation." This ca. 1868 dress of sheer piña cloth over a silk underdress is made in a shockingly magenta color enabled by the invention of the aniline dye fuchsine. Fuchsine was the second aniline dye synthesized, in 1858, and created the color we now call fuchsia. This dress, from @mfaboston , was worn by Mary Francis Cook whose father, a sea captain, brought the piña fabric, made of pineapple leaf fiber, back from his travels.⁠⠀ -⁠⠀ -⁠⠀ -⁠⠀ #fashiondrawing #historicalclothing #periodclothing #historicalfashion #art #digitalart #dresshistory #costumedesign #clothingdesign #vintage #vintagefashion #style #fashion #historicalfashiondrawing #historicalfashiondesign #1868 #1860s #1860sfashion #19thcentury #19thcenturyfashion #nineteenthcenturyfashion #nineteenthcentury ⁠⠀ #Victorian #hoopskirt #crinoline #antebellumfashion #victorianfashion #civilwarerafashion #aniline https://www.instagram.com/p/B_c6mkIgPG-/?igshid=vxvjoy2w0jjh

[drawingfashionhistory]

A #behindthescenes look at lady at her toilette, ca. 1850, for day 8 of #HistoricalApril by @lina_sewhistorically. Based on a period fashion plate, I love the lady's blue mule slippers and the beautiful rows of channels on her corset. Note that her maid, while dressed nicely in a striped silk gown, is a few years out of date, with narrow, cuffed sleeves with a short over sleeve.⁠⠀ -⁠⠀ -⁠⠀ -⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #fashiondrawing #historicalclothing #periodclothing #historicalfashion #art #digitalart #dresshistory #costumedesign #clothingdesign #style #fashion #historicalfashiondrawing #historicalfashiondesign #1840s #1850sfashion #1850s #1850 #19thcentury #19thcenturyfashion #nineteenthcenturyfashion #nineteenthcentury #Victorian #antebellumfashion #victorianfashion #toilette #maid #servant #deshabille https://www.instagram.com/p/B-u3EnfgH7j/?igshid=18tgcho31bvul

[drawingfashionhistory]

A bubblegum pink Parisian ball gown from ca. 1865, based off of a dress sold by @augustaauctions in 2018. This dress perfectly captures the transitional styles of the mid-late 1860s, with the width of the crinoline beginning to shift to the back and crisper, more geometric trimmings replacing the ruffles and flowers of previous years.⠀ -⠀ -⠀ -⠀ ⠀ #fashiondrawing #historicalclothing #periodclothing #historicalfashion #art #digitalart #dresshistory #costumedesign #clothingdesign #vintage #style #fashion #historicalfashiondrawing #historicalfashiondesign #1860s #civilwarera #civilwarfashion #1865 #augustaauctions #19thcentury #19thcenturyfashion #nineteenthcenturyfashion #nineteenthcentury #Victorian #hoopskirt #petticoats #crinoline #bellskirt #antebellumfashion #victorianfashion https://www.instagram.com/p/B-SDwW5AhDj/?igshid=1e6zzc1scyjzo

[drawingfashionhistory]

This dress and jacket is inspired by an 1853 engraving of Elisabeth of Bavaria (soon to be the famous Empress Sissi) by Eduar Kaiser. A lot of reproductions of the engraving are low quality and it can be hard to notice all the delicate lace details on the tiered skirt. I also love the massive straw hat with the decorative ribbon ties.⠀ -⠀ -⠀ -⠀ ⠀ #fashiondrawing #historicalclothing #periodclothing #historicalfashion #art #digitalart #dresshistory #costumedesign #clothingdesign #vintage #vintagefashion #style #fashion #historicalfashiondrawing #historicalfashiondesign #sissi #elisabethofaustria #1850s #1853 #19thcentury #19thcenturyfashion #nineteenthcenturyfashion #nineteenthcentury #Victorian #hoopskirt #petticoats #crinoline #bellskirt #antebellumfashion #victorianfashion https://www.instagram.com/p/B-MjJ2VgrOV/?igshid=aot63r3l12bq

[drawingfashionhistory]

For this #weddingwednesday a ca. 1865 wedding dress of ivory silk satin with fringe trim on the shoulders and a self-fabric belt. From #abitiantichi⁠⠀ -⁠⠀ -⁠⠀ -⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #19thcentury #19thcenturyfashion #nineteenthcenturyfashion #nineteenthcentury #weddingdress ⁠#1860s #1865 #fashiondrawing #historicalclothing #periodclothing #historicalfashion #art #digitalart #dresshistory #costumedesign #clothingdesign #vintage #vintagefashion #style #fashion #historicalfashiondrawing #historicalfashiondesign #Victorian #hoopskirt #crinoline #bellskirt #antebellumfashion #victorianfashion https://www.instagram.com/p/B9mJlq_ggv_/?igshid=1ayyccvch364b

[drawingfashionhistory]

For this #weddingwednesday, ca. 1850 wedding dress and veil. The beginning of the 1850s saw skirts grow wider and wider in anticipation of the eventual introduction of the hoop skirt. Sleeves followed suit, with the narrower sleeves of the 1840s gradually widening in a slim bell shape before gaining maximum fullness later in the decade. While it's true that white wedding dresses and floral bridal headdresses gained widespread popularity after Queen Victoria wore them to her 1840 wedding, she was far from the first to wear white to a wedding: members of the nobility had long chosen white gowns because the difficulty of keeping them clean meant they were a sign of wealth and status, and royals often wore white dresses with gold or silver threads woven into them.⁠⠀ -⁠⠀ -⁠⠀ -⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #fashiondrawing #historicalclothing #periodclothing #historicalfashion #art #digitalart #dresshistory #costumedesign #clothingdesign #vintage #vintagefashion #style #fashion #historicalfashiondrawing #historicalfashiondesign #19thcentury #19thcenturyfashion #nineteenthcenturyfashion #nineteenthcentury #weddingdress #victorianwedding #weddingfashion #1850 #1850s #Victorian #crinoline #bellskirt #antebellumfashion #victorianfashion https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Dbif5gCtV/?igshid=18vlotxjyl4yl