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Old 10-08-2013, 10:33 PM
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Art They Had Style. They Had Grace.

I have been inspired to post historical fashions in random threads before -- who can forget Richard Sackville, his younger brother Edward Sackville and Edith Wharton rocking the seersucker with her pissed off long-haired chihuahuas? -- but now I feel the need to create a dumping ground for all my plotzing over fabulous period clothing.

The man who drove me to it was Queen Elizabeth I's ambassador to Russia for a year from 1583 to 1584. This portrait was painted at that time. Meet Sir Jerome Bowes (clicky for big pic):

Portrait-of-Sir-Jerome-Bowes.jpg

What strikes me the most, besides his long slender ankles that look particularly fetching in his silk nether hose, is the silhouette of those fantastic triangular outer sleeves. You know how on Project Runway they're always going on about new silhouettes? Well there's one right there and it's 530 years old.

Next up is Lady Diana Cecil, painted by William Larkin around 1614:

Diana_Cecil_1614_William_Larkin.jpg

Look at the slashes on the skirt, side skirts and upper sleeves. Slashing was very popular for rich people's clothes in Tudor and Jacobean times, but this particular approach is so small, precise, geometric that it strikes me as much more contemporary a look that the sleeve slashes I'm used to seeing. Look at the bit from the waist to her knees; the slashes create almost a ruffle effect. Again, that is something that could easily come out of Project Runway.

Also hells ya on those pointed outer sleeves reaching the floor like a fucking boss.
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Old 10-09-2013, 01:26 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.


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Old 10-10-2013, 03:07 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

I like Sir Jerome's floral print leggings. I have 3 similar pairs myself.
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Old 10-10-2013, 03:44 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

But do you have gold-tipped tassels to tie around your knees?
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Old 10-10-2013, 04:34 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

I keep trying to figure out what's around Lady Anne Clifford's neck. Is it meant to be jewelry or an accessory? Is it the tie from her collar? Is it a scratch in the paint? A photography artifact?

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Old 10-10-2013, 05:03 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

That is the source of great confusion. According to art dealer Mark Weiss who rediscovered the portrait, those are "mourning strings." There is a matching cord in her earring. The thing is there is zero information on the web about mourning strings, at least under that name. None of the historical clothing references I have mention them either.

I've contacted the Weiss Gallery to ask for more info and they replied but it wasn't really on point, from what I could tell. I've also been emailing with an expert in mourning jewelry and he has some interesting thoughts on the subject. Nothing exactly relevant, though. I will be writing a follow-up blog entry about this when I collect as much info as I deem sufficient.

Incidentally, did you notice the black string on Lady Diana Cecil's hand? That is a known mourning practice: tying the beloved departed's ring to the bereaved's finger with a black string. Perhaps Lady Anne has a ring tied to that cord we can't see because it's down her decolletage.
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Old 10-10-2013, 05:14 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

Now I see it was mentioned in the article. I got so wrapped up in the picture I skimmed that part of it. Never heard of mourning strings. It was her baby that died, right? A ring doesn't seem right, but maybe something from the baby's clothing or blanket, or woven from the baby's hair or some shit.

Mourning customs are often bizarre
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Old 10-10-2013, 05:17 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

Hubba, hubba.


Also I give you Madame de Pompadour who inspired a hairdo and also was painted with a book, good accessorizing!

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Old 10-10-2013, 05:21 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

Love her! To me, Madame de Pompadour is totally the best 18th century fancy French lady costume. Marie Antoinette is the amateur choice.
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Old 10-10-2013, 05:32 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

If we can trust that the portraits represent what she was actually wearing, then I love Queen Elizabeth I's style....nothing has ever been so over the top and never will be again. No collar too enormous! No sleeve too full! No such thing as too many pearls!

Look at this! Pearl haripins, pearls all over the dress. Multiple ropes of pearls

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Old 10-10-2013, 05:49 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

Look at this blog for awesome...Italian Needlework: Mezza Mandolina and Embroidered Netting

They are discussing this lace? Netting? Needlework?


That is a close up from this portrait of Eleanor of Toledo


I also found this portrait of her (and a companion portrait in the same dress), and I adore the pattern on her dress in the simple color palette. And again with the pearls, which look like they may have been golden-bronze.




Do we know if these were usually painted from life?

Last edited by LadyShea; 10-10-2013 at 04:26 PM.
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Old 10-10-2013, 06:02 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

They were, and even though faces may be idealized (certainly the case in every portrait of Elizabeth from the age of 30 onward; she made a law about it), clothing was meticulously reproduced. Sitters wore their most glamorous outfits to show off their wealth so artists had to capture them just so for the showing off plan to work.

That Bronzino portrait, btw, I was completely obsessed with as a child. I loved her dress with a passionate intensity. These guys in Florence make a reproduction of the fabric. When I hit the lottery, I'm having that dress made.
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Old 10-10-2013, 06:10 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

Is it velvet? I want to touch it because the texture looks incredible.
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Old 10-10-2013, 06:18 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

Velvet embroidered on silk.
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Old 10-10-2013, 06:19 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

Silk brocade?

Also the figure above, it looks like lace tatting to me, which can be done in big swaths.
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Old 10-10-2013, 06:24 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

Also how very strange that I honed in on that portrait that you :hearted: as a child. It's the pearls that are hooking me! I have been working with some fucking gorgeous ones this week so have pearls on the brain.
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Old 10-10-2013, 07:31 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

Oh man, I have a pearl festooning situation that I will blog about soon. :plzhold:
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Old 10-10-2013, 01:28 PM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

Quote:
Originally Posted by livius drusus View Post
But do you have gold-tipped tassels to tie around your knees?
Alas, I have not worn knee tassels since I left the Girl Scouts, and they were certainly not gold-tipped. However I have sincerely pondered how easy or difficult it would be to re-introduce that particular accessory into my current wardrobe, because I always did love them.

ALSO! My birthday is in June, so I own way too many pearls, and sometimes when I have a whole lot of them on at once I worry that it is too much. If I ever have a crisis of faith like that again, I will revisit the portrait of Her Maj to inspire me.

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Old 10-10-2013, 01:53 PM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

I'm not sure if this goes in this thrad! :freakout:



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How Did Paul Brockmann End Up With 55,000 Dresses? One Purchase at a Time - Page 1 - News - Los Angeles - LA Weekly

55thousanddresses - Over 55 thousand dress privately collected and offered to you.55thousanddresses.com
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Old 03-26-2015, 09:05 PM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

Meet Alice Stebbins Wells, one of the country's first female police officers (LAPD, hired in 1910) and an all-around badass. She sewed her own uniform, since obviously there weren't any for wimmins in stock and heaven forfend she go full boyfriend-jeans with the men's unis. I love the coat. I LOVE the gloves. And I'm fucking crazy about her badge swagger.

Alice Stebbins Wells.jpg
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Old 04-11-2015, 04:28 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

This is a wedding dress said to have been worn by Helena Slicher when she married Baron Aelbrecht Slingelandt in The Hague in 1759. It is now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. I've been to some weddings where the bride was clearly uncomfortable in her gown, but to say this one takes the cake is to dramatically understate the case. I mean, could she even sit? Some sort of custom furniture would have been necessary. Panniers were diabolical inventions.

Clicky for the high res image. BK-1978-247.jpg
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Old 04-11-2015, 04:54 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

I love it! The embroidery! :gah:

She could totally have an entire couch under that thing and no one would see it.
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Old 04-11-2015, 05:08 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

Oh yeah, good point. They could just use the panniers as supports for an internal bench. Problem solved.
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Old 04-11-2015, 11:18 AM
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Default Re: They Had Style. They Had Grace.

Quote:
Originally Posted by livius drusus View Post
but to say this one takes the cake is to dramatically understate the case.
... pretty much is the cake.
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