1860s dresses (from top to bottom) -
1861-1863 Clare (Miss Clara, his daughter) byJohn Prescott Knight (The Shire Hall Gallery - Stafford, Staffordshire, UK). From artuk.org 917X1200 @72 261kj.
1860s Lady by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (location ?). From tumblr.com/blog/view/glitterofthepast; erased spots and rip w Pshop 1811X2226 @72 1.5Mj.
1869 Lady in a Lace Shawl by Adalbert Begas (Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie - Warszawa, Poland). From Amber Tree's photostream on flickr 1570X2000 @72 506kj.
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Striped Cotton Dress, circa 1850s.
"Dress of printed cotton with repeating design of solid yellow vertical stripe and white stripe with purple and red flowers. Off the shoulder neckline, yoke bodice, short sleeves trimmed with two rows of pleats, front of dress gathered at angles from a wide corded waist band, plain back fastened with hooks and eyes, full skirt (bell shaped) gathered at waist and has two hems."
Litchfield Historical Society
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The Victorian era 1837-1901
Queen Victoria and the mourning period.
The Victorian era revolutionised the way we view women’s fashion today. Before the reign of Queen Victoria, the focus of fashion surrounded men but that later changed as a wife’s appearance and garments came to represent the husbands status and wealth which also later inspired the Aesthetic period which allowed women to dress more freely.
Women began to dress not only for men but to impress and show off to other women of their social standing.
Queen Victoria also introduces many “mourning periods” following the death of her husband Prince Albert, which influenced the country to follow in her ways creating many traditions such as wearing black to a funeral.
The Victorian era also introduced many aspects to garments such as the crinoline, bustle and corset which reoccur in current modern fashion trends.
I find that the Victorian era increasingly significant in the history of fashion as it is the catalyst for change in the freedom and expression of women.
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Red Victorian underthings from the V&A's collection:
Image 1: 1880s dressing gown trimmed with braid and lace
Image 2: 1860s red silk corset with embroidered lace trim
Image 3: 1860s red paisley quilted petticoat
Image 4: 1860s red cage crinoline
Image 5: 1890s red silk knit stockings with floral decoration
A reminder that the past was not black and white and was, in fact, full of sometimes eye-hurtingly bright colors.
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To get into the first looks that were made for Barbie, we need to understand the beauty and fashion of 1959.
1950s fashion existed under that shadow of World War II. Women of the war era were hardy, hard-working, and practical. Fashion was also extremely practical, using as little rationed material as possible. The silhouette was boxy, masculine and almost military, with big broad shoulders and knee-length skirts. Rationing and austerity continued in the years immediately following the war, but then in 1947, something miraculous happened:
(The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Christian Dior created “The New Look.” Now okay, fashion in general had been leaning into this new silhouette and Dior was far from the only designer to be working with it, but his was the most copied and most iconic.
“The New Look” was a call back to the sumptuous femininity of the mid-Victorian era, bringing back tiny waists held in place by impossibly tight corsets and big, full skirts with crinolines and hoops.
The silhouette was a return to classic femininity, but the materials garments themselves were pure modernity: a practical ensemble for a wealthy woman-on-the-go who was lunching with her friends in Paris.
Looking back at Barbie’s 1959 looks, Christian Dior’s fingerprints are all over them, but I see plenty of other designers in the mix, as well. It’s actually very easy to find near-matches of almost all of Barbie’s 1959 looks with a cover of Vogue from the 1950s. Barbie from the get-go was an idealized woman who existed in a world that was separate from the middle-class American suburbs that the little girls who played with her lived in.
Looking at classic first-run Barbie, there’s honestly not a whole lot to say about the bathing suit look. I mean, yeah, that’s what fashionable women wore to the beach in the 1950s. Her buxom curvy body fit the idealized standards epitomized by Marilyn Monroe.
Her face has the heavy makeup that was worn by French fashion models of the time.
Arched, heavily-styled brows, eyeshadow, slightly winged eyeliner, mascara, and of course perfect red lips with matching mani and pedi. One of my pet peeves about vintage style is when people wear winged eyeliner as “50s housewife glam.” NO. Your average middle class American Mrs. Homemaker was not wearing that kind of makeup. Winged eyeliner in the 50s only had a small wing that accentuated the eyelashes, and was generally only worn by the high-fashion crowd. Maybe on a special extra glamorous date with Mr. Husband, but not to a church potluck. Anyway, end of rant, but you see that’s what Barbie is trying to emulate.
Her hair, however is different: the poodle hairstyle was one favored by teenage girls. Seen here on the squeaky-clean America’s sweetheart, Debbie Reynolds:
The playful, youthful hair pulls her back and keeps her from being *too* grown-up. It’s the first step in the balancing act that Barbie has always pulled off with aplomb: to represent adulthood without being too far out of reach of children’s imaginations.
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Silk day dress, 1865, from a 2008 exhibit of 19th century fashion in Huelva, Spain.
Adding two pictures of the same dress I was able to find - wow, what a difference lighting makes!
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