#historical gown

[the-costume-closet]

Costume Design #279

[la-belle-histoire]

Portrait of an Elegant Lady with a Fan, Konstantin Egorovich Makovskij. 1883.

[thetudorslovers]

Should your glance on mornings lovely

Lift to drink the heaven’s blue

Or when sun, veiled by sirocco,

Royal red sinks out of view –

Give to Nature praise and honor.

Blithe of heart and sound of eye,

Knowing for the world of colour

Where its broad foundations lie.

— Goethe

Often associated with bloodshed, the color red can trigger feelings of sorrow and defeat. It can also be a fortifying presence, letting us know that we’ve endured another painful scar. In Greek mythology, the red rose was a symbol of the cycle of growth and decay, but also for love and affinity. Since red is the color of blood, it has historically been associated with sacrifice, danger, and courage. 

The color red has represented many things, from the life force and the divine to love, lust, and anger. Up through the Middle Ages, red held a place of privilege in the Western world. For many cultures, red was not just one color of many but rather the only color worthy enough to be used for social purposes. In some languages, the word for red was the same as the word for color. The first color developed for painting and dying, red became associated in antiquity with war, wealth, and power. In the medieval period, red held both religious significance, as the color of the blood of Christ and the fires of Hell, and secular meaning, as a symbol of love, glory, and beauty. Yet during the Protestant Reformation, red began to decline in status. Viewed as indecent and immoral and linked to luxury and the excesses of the Catholic Church, red fell out of favor. After the French Revolution, red gained new respect as the color of progressive movements and radical left-wing politics." - Red: The History of a Color by Michel Pastoureau

[frostedmagnolias]

Dressing Gown

c. 1840

Litchfield Historical Society

[marzipanandminutiae]

every time a man assumes I'm a tradwife type because of how I dress, I just want to be like "at any given time it's been an average of three weeks since I last shaved my armpits. sometimes longer"

[fashionsfromhistory]

Dressing Gown

1878-1879

United States

Peabody Essex Museum (Object Number: 133939)

[paletapessoal]

See-through beaded and embroidered overdress with blue velvet bodice and cream silk evening dress, 1910-15

Hallwyl costume collection

[crinolinecuriousity]

Dress & Details | c.1890s | British or French

[jewellery-box]

ORGANDY WEDDING GOWN, 1940s

[fashion-from-the-past]

[edwardian-girl-next-door]

Evening gown by Doucet, c.1912. Cream net over pink satin over cream chiffon and satin. Possibly worn by Julia Butterfield, wife of US Union General Daniel Butterfield. Whitaker Auctions.

via _ardenconroy_

[la-belle-histoire]

In the Country, Alfred Stevens. 1867.

[empirearchives]

Empire style dress

1805-1810, French, Napoleonic era

(The Met)

[queenalexandraofdenmark]

White ball gown with blue satin stashes worn by Alexandra, Princess of Wales, 1864.

[frostedmagnolias]

Blue Hydrangeas Dress

c. 1896-1906

silk, tulle, sequins, gemstones

French

Palais Galliera