fashion for faith in four colors: 1890s

Showing posts with label 1890s. Show all posts

Friday, July 27, 2012

Then & Now ~ Cherries

fashion style 10:21 AM

Then

1898 Evening Dress Jean-Philippe Worth The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Now

Retro Rack is also on facebook where I post additional images and fashion thoughts.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Comic Con Outfits ~ Day Two Flowered Day Dress

fashion style 1:24 PM

By the second day of Comic Con, Fashionable Reader, I was rather more into the flow of things. I had deduced the secret back entrance and was getting accustomed to sore feet. Even in flats.

For Friday I planned mostly meetings at the hotel, and had intended a day of rest for the ankle. I did end up back at the convention center in pursuit of a Firefly panel, story to come in my author blog on Monday. But you, Fashionable Reader, are here for the clothes!

So I donned an adapted version of my cream & brown & blue flowered day dress with mixed cream and brown accessories. You may be familiar with this dress, it had its first outing at the Alameda Vintage Faire.

I don't really like it with my cream cardy, I'll have to come up with something else for warmth. Luckily I didn't need it after the morning, the weather being most cooperative.

I love the cut of this dress, it's a classic day dress. I might invest in a poofy cream underskirt for this and the blue & cream from yesterday. To make it more open, like one sees in vintage photos.

It had an adorable little bow belt detail at the waist too, so cute.

Here's another lovely retro take on a very similar dress.

Despite it's ultra retro look this kind of print has enjoyed quite a resurgence this spring and summer.

Here are a few similar I have found online.

Lovely shirt dress style; and a short 60s one with a pussycat bow and pleated skirt.

Here are two vintage pieces.

1950's Hawaiian Casuals by Stan Hicks

1950s Wiggle Dress Brown Floral Print

And how about something for my characters to wear in a similar vein?

First, something for Sophronia and one of her friends in the Finishing School series . . .

1850

Something for Sophronia's BFF Dimity . . .

1850 Kent State

Something for her arch rivals Monique and Preshea . . .

1852-55 by poteidia; 1855 day dresses

Something for Alexia to wear in the Parasol Protectorate series, possibly in Heartless . . .

1870s early

Something a little more to Rue's taste, in the upcoming Parasol Protectorate Abroad series. (Rue has terribly good taste and is awfully fond of tea gowns, so sensible.)

1890-1895 Tea Gown Worth The Royal Ontario Museum

For underneath . . .

1890s

And something for Rue's dear friend Primrose . . .

1890 worth

Perfect for traveling by dirigible.

And for the Queen of the Wimbledon hive?

1890 worth

So extravagant, but then, she's like that.

Retro Rack is also on facebook where I post additional images and fashion thoughts.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Comic Con Outfits ~ Day One Blue & White

fashion style 11:08 AM

So, in case you hadn't guessed, Fashionable Reader, I enjoy standing out visually, but in a classy way, or course. Or as classy as I can possibly manage. *insert snorting noise here*

Under circumstances such as San Diego Comic Con standing out is a challenge. There are amazing cospay ladies everywhere, from comic book characters to steampunk to cross overs between the two. There are also lost of shorts and logo t-shirts, wings and hats, and robotic attachments.

So what did I decide to do in order to be unique? Well, frankly, just dress the way I normally do. With the exception of Saturday day, when I wore a cool adaptation of my old favorite spoon steampunk outfit, I mostly just chose nice bright ladylike dresses.

I've been hunting down, expanding, and investing in some day dresses in light packable fabrics. And a good thing too, day dresses look much better with flats and we've already discussed that crisis. On Thursday I wore my new blue and cream dress, paired with cream accessories.

I wore it with the matched jacket, day hat and low key pearls for daytime.

And switched the jacket out for an evening muff, the hat for a flowered hairband, the purse for a clutch, and the daytime pearls for an evening set for that night.

I love blue & cream (or blue & white) together. It's an elegant color combination and I just don't have enough of it in my wardrobe. I always think of Wedgwood china and the like when I see it, which reminds me of tea, which is no bad thing.

This outfit packs beautifully. As ever, here are some other takes on this classic combo for your perusal, fashionable reader. Let us start with some great retro options.

Dita-von-teese-westwood-louboutin; Dior 2011

Monique-Lhuillier; Louise-Roe-Rebecca-Taylor

stella_mccartney_resort

Here are links to a few up for purchase.

Cream and flowers with sleeves; sleeveless blue roses.

With a peplum and belt, so cute.

How about a few accessories?

Cornelia James blue leather driving gloves at corneliajames.com

For a modern take on this look I really love adding a touch of red. It remains ladylike but has a bit of an edge. Black tights can also work well, or simply choosing a dress that is a little more modern.