An unusual dress

Posted about 13 hours ago at 13:04 CET in Fashion.

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While looking through the National Trust Collections I came across something interesting. This robe above, dated 1785 - 1795 from the Snowshill Wade Costume Collection stood out very much to me because I’ve never seen anything like it before.

The reason I was so surprised by it is because of the fabric. I’ve never before seen an extant garment made up in a toile de Jouy type fabric before, and thus I’ve always thought it was a fabric used strictly for decorating purposes. I wouldn’t have been so surprised if it was a pair of stays or a pocket that could have been made from scraps, but an entire robe definitely seems unusual to me. The print also seems very large and more suited for massive drapes or something rather than clothing.

Any thought on this dress and its unusual fabric? Have you seen any other garments made of toile de Jouy?

7 comments

National Trust Collections

Posted 3 days ago at 15:31 CET in Databases, Fashion, Links, Museums, and Paintings.

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Everyone and their grandmother have already blogged abut this, but the National Trust has a new online archive.

So far the information is often scarce, the photos are often small or of bad quality, and the clothes are often badly mounted or not mounted at all. Still there’s lots and lots of great stuff to see, and the search function is great, except for the fact the session times out if you leave it too long.

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Swedish museum database

Posted Jan 11, 2012 at 17:15 CET in Databases, Fashion, Links, and Museums.

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I found this new database via Isis’ Wardrobe and Madame Berg.

Livrustkammaren (The royal armory), The Hallwyl museum and Skokloster castle have put their large collections online, containing many18th century costumes and other objects. The search function is great but the photo quality isn’t always the best. Click the picture to go to the website.

P.S. I just added a Databases category where I will be adding all the posts about 18th century related databases.

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Exhibition about Gustav Mauritz Armfelt

Posted Jan 10, 2012 at 11:41 CET in Exhibitions, Museums, and People.

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Armfelt by Adolf Ulrich Wertmüller. Source: Livrustkammaren.

In march an exhibition about Gustav Mauritz Armfelt, Gustav III’s favourite, will open at Livrustkammaren in Stockholm. Until then you can follow the preparations of the exhibition through the exhibition blog.

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At the Sign of the Golden Scissors

Posted Jan 6, 2012 at 17:42 CET in Blogs, Costuming, Fashion, and Links.

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I feel terrible for neglecting this blog so much lately, but here’s a great 18th century blog I just discovered. At the Sign of the Golden Scissors talks about 18th century costuming and has some great articles about 18th century clothing with a focus on historical accuracy.

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