Just a quickie for Fashion Plate Friday! This one was originally published in Le Follet (a Paris magazine), in November of 1839.
Love the green dressing/smoking gown with the red lining and cap ~ also the little gold slippers. The other two gents are wearing evening clothes (at left), and (at right) what looks like a typical day-to-evening frock (more casual than the dinner tails).
Aside from the clothes, I really love the ghosted-in room decor: the fireplace, candelabra, etc.
In this painting by Constantin Hansen from 1837, we see a bunch of Danish artists lounging around in an apartment in Rome.
Love the variety of fabrics and colors for their vest and trousers, love the long pipes, the tall hats, the delicate tea cups and saucers, and the dog hanging out on the chair while the men are lounging on the floor.
Was looking for pictures of boy's clothing from this period and came across this by happy accident, so I thought I would share. I was hoping to post something doll-like today, but alas, the evening is getting away from me, so it may have to wait. Sorry!
Click on the pictures to see the details ~ this is a great portrait of gentlemen at their leisure from a period when portraiture was otherwise generally still pretty stuffy and formal.
For fashion plate Friday I have two lovely things to offer from two distinct periods.
The first, to the left is from the Revue de la Mode (obviously a French fashion journal) from it appears to be 1886 (that seems right given the style of the bustles ~ my eyesight is kinda killing me at this point so it's hard to read the tiny faded print in the lower left.
I love the gold and green dress most, but the evening gown with the satin or velvet bodice and then the contrasting gold overskirt and purplish flowers. It works, I guess, but this is one of those places where I just know my sense of color is "off". I would never imagine deliberately making such a combination!
The other image for the day comes from 1837 and shows various women in evening or mourning dress. Because mourning was such a huge part of the culture, it's always interesting to see how women tried to make it fashionable as well (within reason, of course ~ ostentation would have been grossly boorish).
It's also interesting to note that black was actually popular in fashion during various periods, which helped alleviate it of its reputation for being the color of mourning. Though we still associate it with funerals today, it's also known as common party or cocktail wear: that "little black dress" for any and all occasions.
I made this doll for the 2010 International Paper Doll Convention that is being held in Kansas City, MO this year. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend (though I had hoped to). Still, being able to contribute a tiny little bit of something was fun and I certainly hope to do more in the future.
The doll is ink and Copic markers on watercolor paper; nothing fancy (I was trying to keep it simple to prevent myself from going off the deep end fussing about details). I based the designs of the dresses on carriage dresses in a fashion plate from Ladies' Museum, June 1831 (I wanted to do something "summery" since it's that time of year). I really should have included a hat. This reduction doesn't show some of the details (I used a very very light shade of grey on her corset and pantalettes ~ so there is definition there, it's just hard to see on this scan, unfortunately).
It's Friday, so why not a Friday Fashion? It's not a fashion plate, okay, but it's a fabulous example of a silk walking dress from the 1830s, so it deserves a looksie.
The description on this particular item reads, in part:
The 1830s silhouette was created by a corseted, raised waistline; with a bell-shaped skirt revealing the lower ankle. The wide triangle atop this dress was imposed by the stays worn underneath, which had shoulder straps to hold the shoulders down and away from the neck. The wide sleeves had at first been affixed at the top of the arm and supported with sleeve extenders made of various materials. By the late 1830s, the gigot sleeve was collapsing at the sleeve cap.
Go to the site to read more and see the amazing other dresses from throughout the century.
Today's fashion plate series are, as of this date, currently for sale at Collector's Prints, going for a $39.99 a piece. This is a decent price for a 7x8 hand-colored plate of this age.
The dresses are definitely 1830s-style, but the plates appear undated (I cannot read the tiny writing at the bottom to ascertain if they indicate which magazine these originally came from). The lack of information is a little unfortunate, but the images are very nice and the colors are bright.
Gotta love those top-knots in the hairdos!
The 1830s strikes me as a sort of ugly era for women's fashion: the hairstyles are complex and a little bizarre by modern standards and the sloping shoulders and pouf sleeves seem unflattering to me.
I do love, however, the emphasis on teeny tiny feet (which seems more prevalent in this era than in subsequent ones, though women's feet will always be drawn like pointy little triangles throughout the century. The 1830s strike me particularly as having something of the ballerina implied in them, however.
From BibliOdyssey, a beautiful fashion plate from 1831. The caption reads:
"The woman on the left wears a green archery dress with full skirts, a large, pointed, white lace collar and long sleeves with double puffs at the shoulders. The woman wears a green belt with a gold buckle and gold trim. A gold and green tassel hangs from one side of the belt, while an ornate gold and green hip quiver holding several white, feather-tipped arrows hangs from the other. The woman's hat has a white, upturned brim edged with green. It is adorned with several large, white plumes at the crown and a golden ornament at the brim. The woman wears long, dangling earrings, green boots, pale gloves, and a brown bracer, or arm-guard, on her left forearm. She holds a bow and arrow ready to shoot.
The woman on the right wears a blue and white archery dress with a high, lacy collar and a short, sheer apron. The bodice and sleeves are extremely ornate and reminiscent of a doublet. The bodice is decorated with rows of white braid in a military fashion and white ruffles extend from the shoulders. The sleeves are blue and fitted below the elbow, but puffed at the shoulder, where they are blue and white striped and trimmed in lace ruffles. The skirt is a very pale blue, and the woman wears a blue belt with a large buckle at her waist. A tassel and small, arrow-filled hip quiver hang from this woman's belt. She wears blue boots, white gloves, and large, dangling earrings. Her white hat has an upturned brim trimmed with a white brooch or ornament. Several large, white plumes adorn the crown. She wears a bracer on her left forearm and carries a bow and arrow, though hers are lowered as she watches her companion take her shot. A large green back quiver, trimmed in gold and with a green and white ribbon carrying strap, lies in the foreground. The two women are outside. They stand on grass with trees and an archery target behind them."
Click the image to see more detail on the fashion plate and on the link above to see more plates and descriptions!
Another gem from Morphy's Auctions. This is "The School of Fashion" circa 1830s-1840s (that's what the website says ~ it looks 30s to me). The description reads: "The Lovely French 'L'Ecole Des Modes' boxed set contains a reinforced front/back 5.7-inch [doll?]. She has six flawless gowns, seven headdresses/hats, and a wooden stand. The accompanying box is embossed with gold trim and a beautiful centerpiece featuring elaborately gowned ladies of the period.
The estimated selling price for this lovely set? $1,200-$1,500!
This was the largest image I could get of the set, so click on it if you want to see it a little closer, but it's too bad we can't see more of the details on the dresses, etc.
I have been truly dreadful about updating here, I know. So many other things on my plate, including a grim sinus infection that made me lose a couple of weeks in crabby mungness. But I'm always full of excuses, I know, so I'll just offer this colorful plate from a fashion magazine the name of which, unfortunately, I do not know. Dapper chaps, aren't they? This is circa 1830 and these fellas are clearly young gadabouts who have nothing better to do than flaunt the latest styles as they promenade about. I like the "sporting" outfit in the back as well. When they're not trying to impress the ladies, they can take their spaniels into the bush and flush grouse or somesuch. Also love the stovepipe hats with the rounded brims. Very particular to the era since by the 40s, the wider tops and curvier sides were much more popular by and large.
As for my own work, suffice it to say, it keeps getting back burner-ed while I wrangle with a multitude of other projects. But I do have a deadline for the 15th of May, which means I need to get back working on this stuff soon.
I also changed the body shape on one doll (the adjustments never end, do they?). I will post stuff by Sunday night (trying to make a commitment here!).
Before I sign off for vacation, I thought I should offer at least one Santa Claus paper doll ('tis the season and all). I intend to make my own one day ~ I have some pretty specific ideas about what I want him to look like, and he does appear in my series at least once that I am aware of, so he's officially a "character" of this universe. But in the meantime, here's Tom Tierney's Santa Claus, who deserves the honor since he has the coolest 19th century costumes of all the Santa Claus paper dolls that I have seen. Click on the image to see the costumes in more detail.
The marketing idea of a "Santa Claus" was really born in the 19th century, thanks to Clement Clarke Moore's poem "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" (more commonly called by its opening line minus a "t'was: "The Night Before Christmas". The idea was popularized by Thomas Nast in the illustrated papers (the patriotic depiction on the left is drawn from a wartime newspaper in 1863 ~ notice the army camp in the background there).
Tierney's paper doll includes an interesting evolution of Santa Claus through the 19th century from his Dutch beginnings in a 1821 image all the way to the turn of the century in his first motorcar. The second costume here is undated, but by the look of the doll it's likely based on an image from somewhere in the 1830s or 40s.
I hope everyone has a happy holiday and I look forward to posting lots of fun stuff in the new year!
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