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Behind the Seams: Construction Details from DearGolden

construction-details-edwardian-dress020{Images Courtesy of Lauren Naimola}

To help you through the sweltering late summer heat, Lauren of Dear Golden has shared with us this breezy silk Edwardian era dress.

Let’s take a closer look at those construction details, shall we?

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A Brief Fashion History

The Edwardian Era spanned from 1901 to 1910 when King Edward VII reigned over the United Kingdom. This was the last time in history women were expected to wear corsets as part of their everyday wardrobe.

In 1901, the French designer Poiret joined the historical couture house House of Worth, then opened his own salon in 1904. With his small-town wife’s slender figure and oriental features as an inspiration, Poiret’s designs aimed to, “liberate all women from their shackles of bone and steel.”

paul-poiret-quote

(Downton Abbey takes places just after the Edwardian era, showcasing the dramatic change fashion saw during, and as a result of, The Great War.)

Rachel Rasmussen

Rachel is a nerdy Oregon native with a philosophy degree and classical dance background. She fancies her personal style to be quirky sophistication, focusing on the importance of fit while adding special touches of handmade embellishments. She is also a connoisseur of whiskey and nap-taker extraordinaire.

Comments

Clare

August 14, 2013 #

Mannn i love these posts. So wonderfully informative, pretty and inspirational all at the same time! Please keep them going forever and ever!

Rachel

August 14, 2013 #

Will do :)

emily

August 14, 2013 #

hi,

just wanted to let you know you mispelled “flatter” under the Hook & Eye section.

emily

August 14, 2013 #

misspelled* whoops!

Kelly

August 14, 2013 #

And Downton Abbey :)

Rachel

August 14, 2013 #

Fixed that, thanks ;)

Krista

August 14, 2013 #

Thanks for posting this. I just about swooned. It’s glorious.

Lisa G.

August 14, 2013 #

You’re right about Edwardian fashions being breezy – I love them.

Julie Parrish

August 14, 2013 #

So faux buttonholes and nonfunctional buttons up the center back bodice – interesting. And is the bodice lining a silk mesh? Beautiful, and pretty much unaffordable these days, isn’t it?

Rachel

August 14, 2013 #

It will eventually be listed in the DearGolden shop, so I guess we will find out what it sells for then.

laurel

August 20, 2013 #

This pretty dress’s back hook & eye and snap fastenings depended on the dressing
assistance of a lady’s maid

Rachel W.

August 14, 2013 #

Edwardian fashion is the best– and I don’t say that just because I’ve been obsessed with LM Montgomery and her heroines for years! ;)

This is a beautiful frock. I just finished reading a collection of essays on the ‘Culture of Sewing: Gender, Consumption, and Home Dressmaking’ (ed. Barbara Burman, 1999), and now I can’t stop thinking about how women relate to their clothing, homemade or otherwise. What did the dress mean to its wearer? What did it mean to her in terms of outlay of cash, labor, or emotional investment? Is it significant that this dress survived ~100 years when so many other things were “used up and wore out” or “made over”?

I love the idea that this dress has a biography just as much as the lady (or ladies!) who wore it. Thank you so much for sharing.

Rachel

August 14, 2013 #

Neat, I may have to go find that book now!

Angela

August 14, 2013 #

If my clothes were this detailed and made of such nice pieces of fabric, I would probably wear the same dress for a month straight, and not need Fast Fashion to keep me clothes in boring, cheap stuff. I need to keep this in mind when sewing for myself. Take time, add details you love.

Elle

August 14, 2013 #

Hello, just to note Edward VII was king of the United Kingdom – not just England. Often confused, but England and the United Kingdom are not one and the same. :)

Rachel

August 14, 2013 #

Woopsie, thanks for catching that!

Sandy

August 14, 2013 #

“Both sides of dress slit up to waist” – that explains the odd proportion; that skirt looks pretty short, compared to the bodice (and you’re suggesting that it would show a *lot* of petticoat). If you held it up to your body, where would the hem fall? Mid-calf? I’d suggest that it’s a tunic-blouse, worn over a skirt.

Are the buttonholes in back open, stitched shut after cutting and embroidering, or embroidered closed and never designed to have been used at all?

The flat lace used to join the sheer and opaque parts of the built-in camisole – that’s wonderful, I’m going to use that someday.

Fiona M

August 14, 2013 #

Beautiful. Just beautiful. Although I agree with the previous poster in regard to the proportions, which indicate that it would have been worn over a longer skirt.

Wendy

August 14, 2013 #

Thank you so much for sharing this! I’m a big fashion history nerd with a particular obsession with the post-Edwardian/WWI era, and I’m planning to make my wedding gown based on two day dresses from 1913. It’s not easy to find such clear, high-quality breakdowns of the inner workings of dresses from this period. This post is going straight into my dossier of research materials!

Rachel

August 14, 2013 #

Fantastic!

VictoriaR

August 14, 2013 #

This is a lovely dress. It looks as though it is shorter than floor length. I thought the Edwardians wore long dresses. Why is this one short?

Alice

August 14, 2013 #

I have a photo of my Grandmother wearing a very similar dress when she was a young woman. What a lovely posting. I love to see the inner workings of clothing that was made to last. Thanks,

A Morris

August 14, 2013 #

Fascinating…….keep these coming….!

Sara

August 14, 2013 #

Fabulous construction details. I enjoy this series very much. The use of the term “oriental features” made me cringe a bit. I’m assuming the copy was taken from somewhere else.

Rachel

August 14, 2013 #

Yes, that was the term used in the history I was reading. I totally agree with you, and I almost put the term in quotations. I think I thought about it so much I forgot to actually decide what to write!

Sara

August 15, 2013 #

Or just not use it at all :)

Its so interesting, isnt it? The terms and how they change and their meaning. I took an entire year course on Orientalism and its all fascinating.

Deanna

August 15, 2013 #

I really enjoyed this post, the dress is very pretty. I love the embroidered fabrics and lace of this era.

On a different note, I just wanted to point out that corsets (albeit of a different shape than previously) were still commonly worn after 1910, and in some cases, the early part of the 1920s. Lots of people switched to girdles, but not everyone.

And while I love lots of Poiret’s clothes, (a lot of the Ballets Russes stuff is awesome and dramatic) I wouldn’t take everything he says at face value. He was pretty great at drama and self-promotion. He really didn’t banish the corset all by himself (not that your post actually said that, but it’s something that’s pretty commonly repeated). Vionnet and Lucile are two of the other designers I can think of who were doing uncorseted looks. It’s easy to get the impression that Poiret banished the corset, and “poof!” we were on the road to unrestrictive clothes that freed women from oppression, etc. And not notice that he’s the same guy who popularized the hobble skirt. The opposite of unrestrictive (not that they don’t look pretty awesome sometimes).

Rachel

August 18, 2013 #

By providing a brief history, I hoped to inspire people to read further on their own.

Debbie

August 20, 2013 #

This is a very interesting item. I’d love to know more details about the waistband of the skirt/waist area. Was there some sort of drawstring in it? Or was it gathered and stitched into place?

What a great piece. Thanks so much for sharing. I’m looking forward to future posts on fashions’ past.

Debbie…(O:
>

Susie

August 24, 2013 #

I love this post, my grandmother wore dresses like this. I love the delicate, fragile, femininity of the dress, I’d wear it today. It looks so cool and fresh, beautifully femanine.