Fashions for August 1921

August 1921 dresses

Loretta reports:

For a little change of pace, I thought we’d look at fashion of the early 20th century. Color images have not been easy to find. This set comes from the Delineator, which basically sold Butterick patterns.

If you’re reading or writing books set in the Downton Abbey era, you will probably enjoy taking a more extensive look at the magazine online. It includes illustrations for undergarments, which can be extremely important in historical romance.



Meanwhile, I believe the descriptions of the dresses will make more sense to those who sew than they do to me. I do not understand the bit about the waist closing on the shoulder.

dress description

 

August 1821 dresses rear view

Clicking on the image will enlarge it.  Clicking on the caption will take you to the source, where you can learn more and enlarge images as needed.

Friday video: Aristocrats of the Downton Abbey era

Alken, In and Out Clever

Loretta reports:

This short piece, part of a series exploring the changes the aristocracy underwent in the period between the wars, offer a glimpse of the reality behind the world of Downton Abbey.

Image: Henry Alken, In and out Clever, Courtesy Yale Center for British Art, Yale Art Gallery Collection, Gift of Francis P. Garvan, B.A. 1897 (for Whitney Sporting Art Collection in memory of Harry Payne Whitney, B.A. 1894.


Readers who receive our blog via email might see a rectangle, square, or nothing where the video ought to be.  To watch the video, please click on the title to this post or this link to YouTube.

From the NHG Bookshelf: A Gilded-Age Guidebook for Aspiring American Beauties

Isabella reporting,

We seem to be in an Edwardian-Gilded Age Renaissance. The new season of Downton Abbey recently began in America, and Smithsonian has also launched its own series, Million Dollar American Princesses, with both featuring 19th c. American heiresses who went across the Atlantic to find husbands among the British aristocracy.

As the exhibition of costumes from Downton Abbey wound down its record-breaking run at Winterthur Museum (see my earlier post here), I attended an entertaining talk by Carol McD. Wallace, co-author (with Gail MacColl) of To Marry an English Lord: Tales of Wealth and Marriage, Sex and Snobbery. Originally published in 1989, To Marry has been reissued to appeal to the new surge in interest in the "buccaneers," as novelist Edith Wharton dubbed them: the American beauties who traded staggering fortunes for noble titles.

And this book is fun.  Filled with illustrations and photographs, gossip and scandal, it's the kind of book readers can as easily browse as read cover to cover, and always find considerable entertainment. There's advice on everything from the costs (vast) of running a country estate with years of deferred maintenance, to choosing the proper wardrobe (also vast) for a Season in London. The niceties of calling cards, professional beauties, court presentations, the cut direct, and Newport cottages are also discussed. All the legendary American husband-hunters are here, from Astors to Vanderbilts, to the queens of Midwest commerce, and for the modern sight-seer, there's also a handy directory of which heiresses' homes in Britain are now open to the public.

I especially enjoyed the contemporary quotes that are liberally sprinkled through the books. For example, this from Oscar Wilde: "American youths are pale and precious, or sallow and supercilious, but American girls are pretty and charming – little oases of pretty unreasonableness in a vast desert of practical common-sense."

The fabulous couturier Charles Frederick Worth was more direct: "My Transatlantic friends are always welcome; they have what I call 'the three F's': figures, francs, and faith! That is why I like dressing the Americans."

Or, in the words of a popular musical-comedy song of the day: "The almighty dollar will buy, you bet/A superior class of coronet;/That's why I've come from New York City of U.S.A."

Belt Buckles for Gilded Age Wasp Waists

Loretta reports:

Not long ago I read Consuelo Vanderbilt’s The Glitter and the Gold, which had me thinking about Gilded Age fashions.  We’ve looked at the wasp waists more than once, mainly in connection with the tight corseting of the Victorian era.  Belts often encircled and called attention to those tiny waists, sometimes with beautifully crafted belt buckles, of which the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has a splendid collection.

This gold and garnet buckle is one fine example, dating from about 1899.

The nickel and silver glass paste buckle, with its strange face and the wide open mouth, is something completely different.  It’s about ten years later, and looks less Victorian and more Art Nouveau.

Can you picture the sort of woman who’d wear one of these? My guess is that it would not be the same woman!

Buckle # 1, by K.K. Faschschule für Edelsteinschleifer, Edelsteingravure, Goldschmeiede und Juweliere, Bohemian (Turneau), founded 1884.

Buckle #2, by Kirschgaessner und Kraft, German (Pforzheim), founded 1902.

Marie Kröyer

Painting: Peder Severin Kröyer, Portrait of the artist´s wife: Marie Kröyer (1901) courtesy Wikipedia


Clicking on the image will enlarge it.  Clicking on the captions will allow you to read at the source, where you can learn more and enlarge images as needed.

A Newpaper for the Doughboys: The Stars and Stripes 1918-1919

More info here

Loretta reports:

Today is Veterans Day in the U.S. (a video here) and Remembrance Day elsewhere.  As Downton Abbey aficionados and others will know, the signing of an armistice on 11 November 1918 marked the end of the Great War.  11 November became the commemoration day, known for many years as Armistice Day.

Looking for a social history angle (we Nerdy History Girls generally leave politics and war to others) I ended up at one of my favorite sites, the Library of Congress, where I came upon the newspaper created for the U.S. Army during WWI.  Intended to unify the U.S. forces, which were spread over Europe and mixed with troops of other countries, The Stars and Stripes ran from 8 February 1918 to 13 June 1919.

I discovered that soldiers created a significant amount of its material, and the original staff included enlisted men Alexander Woollcott (later of of The New Yorker and Algonquin Round Table fame) and Harold W. Ross, (a co-founder of The New Yorker).

If you’d like to see what the soldiers were reading, you can take a closer look at individual issues on this list.  Downloading the PDF-Entire Issue offers the easiest viewing of whole pages, but you will probably want to zoom in quite a bit.

More info here

Here’s what a U.S. soldier found in its first issue. It includes illustrations by Charles Dana Gibson, along with satire and satirical prints and a fascinating array of advertisements for U.S., British, and French companies and products.

Posters courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

What to Wear to the Queen's Drawing Room in 1833

Court Dress April 1832

Loretta reports:

In case you were wondering what the ladies wore to the Queen’s Drawing Room, here are a few descriptions of dresses worn to the one held on 18 April 1833. (idiosyncratic spelling retained).

~~~

A list of the principal dresses worn at Her Majesty’s  Drawing Room.
 
HER MAJESTY. A rich silver tissue dress, embroidered in gold, the body and sleeves ornamented with diamonds and blonde: train of crimson velvet, lined with white satin, with gold and silver border to correspond. Headdress, feathers and diamonds.

DUCHESS DE DINO. A gold and silver lama dress over a white satin slip, with gold and silver lama corsage a pointe, profusely trimmed with gold fringe; manteau of emerald-green velvet, superbly trimmed, with rich garniture to correspond; cherusse en blonde. Head-dress, green wreath, with ostrich feathers, surmounted with diamonds.

MARCHIONESS OF DOWNSHIRE. A figured satin petticoat, trimmed with robings of blonde and gauze riband; boddice and sleeves trimmed with blonde to correspond ; train of green velvet, splendidly trimmed with lama and gold fringe. Head-dress, blonde lappets, feathers, and diamonds.
 
MARCHIONESS OF HASTINGS. A crape petticoat, richly embroidered with gold and silver, worn over white satin body, and train of cream-coloured satin, embroidered to correspond. Pearl ornaments.
 
MARCHIONESS OF LONDONDERRY. A black crape dress and train, lined with black gros deNaples, trimmed with gauze riband, and attaches of clusters of diamonds; corsage a pointe, with a splendid diamond stomacher. Head-dress, black feathers en chaperon, double guirlande of diamonds, black lace lappets, and necklace of large pearls and diamonds.
 
MARCHIONESS WELLESLEY. A rich black bugle dress; train to correspond. Head-dress, black feathers and jet ornaments.

—Court Journal Saturday 20 April 1833

~~~

 That’s only the the very top ranks.  For the lot—countesses, viscountesses, etc.—please click here.

Illustration:  Court Dress for April 1832 (a year earlier, but close enough) from The Royal Lady’s Magazine, 1832.  To enlarge the dress description below, please click on the image.  Or you can read it here.

The Sad Civil War Story of Jennie Wade, 1863

Susan reporting:

This blog was suggested by a schoolmate of my daughter's, a girl who saw the little leather purse, left, and thought the story behind it might make a good TNHG post.  She's right – and what intrigued me the most is that she's just about the same age as the young woman who originally owned that purse.

Born in Gettysburg, PA, Jenny Wade (1843-1863), below, was a seamstress employed by her mother. A fervent Union supporter, she was likely engaged to marry Johnston Hastings "Jack" Skelly, a corporal in the 87th Pennsylvania. In one of those terrible coincidences of history, Jenny, her mother, and her younger siblings left their home on the first of July, 1863, for the house of her sister, Georgia McClellan, which they believed to be in a safer location in the center of town. The war had suddenly become inescapable, with nearly 160,000 Confederate and Unions soldiers converging on their small Pennsylvania town. As the battle raged nearby, Jennie and her sister made loaves of bread, running out to the street to give them to the Union troops marching past on their way to join the fighting.

With gunfire ringing throughout their neighborhood (more than 150 bullets have been found in the walls of the McClellan house), the women struggled to keep life as normal as possible. Early on the warm Friday morning of July 3, Jennie was standing in her sister's kitchen, kneading dough for more bread. The small leather purse, above, was in her pocket while she worked.

As she bent over the dough, a Confederate sharpshooter's bullet entered the kitchen and struck Jennie. The ball pierced her left shoulder and passed through her heart, finally burying itself against the bones of her corset. Jennie died instantly. Her body was discovered by Union soldiers, and she was buried in the back yard of the house. Legend says that her grief-stricken mother went on to finish the bread that Jennie had been kneading, giving the loaves to Union soldiers along with the story of her daughter's death.

When the horrific Battle of Gettysburg was finally over, the casualties on both sides were estimated at between 46,000 and 51,000 soldiers – the highest number for any Civil War battle. Yet only one civilian was killed: Jennie Wade. Within a week, her sweetheart, Jack Skelly, was also dead, perishing from wounds received at the Battle of Winchester. Looking at that remarkably ordinary little leather purse, it's hard not to think of Jennie and Jack, and all the hopes and dreams that must have ended for so many young couples in that hot July of 1863.

Above: Jennie Wade purse, Christian C. Sanderson Museum, Chadd's Ford, PA
Below: Jennie Wade, detail, Wade Family daguerreotype
Many thanks to Hannah Boettcher for suggesting this post! 

Familiarity between the sexes in 1811

Loretta reports:

~~~

The present familiarity between the sexes is both shocking to delicacy and to the interest of women. Woman is now treated by the generality of men with a freedom that levels her with the commonest and most vulgar objects of their amusements. She is addressed as unceremoniously, treated as cavalierly, and left as abruptly as the veriest puppet they could pick up at Bartholomew Fair.

We no longer see the respectful bow, the look of polite attention, when a gentleman approaches a lady : he runs up to her, he seizes her by the hand, shakes it roughly, asks a few questions, and, to show that he has no interest in her answers, flies off again before she can make a reply.

To cure our coxcombs of this conceited impertinence, I would strongly exhort my young and lovely readers to treat them with the neglect they deserve. When any man, who is not privileged by the right of friendship or of kindred, to address her with an action of affection, attempts to take her hand, let her withdraw it immediately with an air so declarative of displeasure, that he shall not presume to repeat the offence. At no time ought she to volunteer shaking hands with a male acquaintance, who holds not any particular bond of esteem with regard to herself or family. A touch, a pressure of the hands, are the only external signs a woman can give of entertaining a particular regard for certain individuals. And to lavish this valuable power of expression upon all comers, upon the impudent and contemptible, is an indelicate extravagance which, I hope, needs only to be exposed, to be put for ever out of countenance.

As to the salute, the pressure of the lips : that is an interchange of affectionate greeting or tender farewell, sacred to the dearest connections alone. Our parent; our brothers; our near kindred; our husband; our lover, ready to become our husband; our bosom's inmate, the friend of our heart's care; to them are exclusively consecrated the lips of delicacy, and woe be to her who yields them to the stain of profanation !

By the last word, I do not mean the embrace of vice ; but merely that indiscriminate facility which some young women have in permitting what they call a good-natured kiss.— These good-natured kisses have often very bad effects, and can never be permitted without injuring the fine gloss of that exquisite modesty which is the fairest garb of virgin beauty.

—The Mirror of the Graces; or, The English lady's costume: Combining and harmonizing taste and judgment, elegance and grace, modesty, simplicity and economy, with fashion in dress, by a Lady of Distinction, 1811

Illustration:  "Tom & Bob, at a real Swell Party", 1822, courtesy Ancestry Images.

More from Helen Rowland

Loretta reports:

From the era of Downton Abbey, more from Helen Rowland.

~~~
A man weddeth a woman in order to escape loneliness, and immediately thereafter joineth a club in order to escape the woman.

He marryeth a damsel because she appealeth to his "higher nature", and spendeth all the rest of his days seeking after those who appeal to his lower nature.

A woman is cast down with doubts lest a man doth not love her; but a man never troubleth his soul, as to whether or not a woman loveth him, but as to whether or not he wanteth her to love him.

Behold, an honest woman may cheat at cards, but never at love; but he considereth himself an "honorable man" that never cheateth at a game of poker though he never playeth fair at the game of hearts.

Go to! Think no man in love while he flattereth thee and extolleth all thy ways; but, when he beginneth to moralize and to criticise thy hats, then mayest thou plan thy trousseau.

When he saveth thy life it may be for chivalry's sake; but when he carryeth an umbrella to please thee it is for love's sake.

Be not set up when a man giveth thee the key to his heart, for, peradventure, upon the following day, he may change the lock!

Then, how shall a woman understand a man, since they are all cut upon the bias!

Verily, verily, by turning him around , my Daughter, and reading him backward, even as a Chinese laundry ticket!


The sayings of Mrs. Solomon: being the confessions of the seven hundredth wife as revealed to Helen Rowland, 1913

The perfect figure in 1914

Loretta reports:

While a Nerdy History Girl is perfectly capable of watching Downton Abbey devotedly, she can’t help noticing its historical oddities.  For instance, in the second decade of the 20th century, what would people have thought of the figures of the countess & her daughters?

In 1914, Lina Cavalieri, opera singer & famous beauty, published My Secrets of Beauty.  In the chapter "How to Improve Your Figure," she explains the ideal:

“FRANKLY determine how far your figure falls short of perfection. Perfection, that is, according to the canons of classic statuary. The standards of the Greek sculptors have never been improved.”

If we read her description of those proportions, then take a look at the Venus de Milo, it becomes easy to understand why Kitty Gordon is one of the examples of perfection.

“Her arms, neck and shoulders furnish an ideal which every woman should try to attain.”

As promised, Ms. Cavalieri tells her reader how to grow taller, thinner, plumper.  For women whose figures, even by the standards of the time, are overabundant, she suggests:

“First give attention to your diet . . . Say reduce your diet at the beginning by one quarter, then one-third, and after that one-half. The slimming results will soon become apparent.

“But do not be satisfied with one means of securing a flatter back and slender hips. Exercise, especially in the open air. Walk, walk, walk, beginning with a short walk if you are unaccustomed to walking, and increasing the distance each day.

“And if possible have recourse to massage. I have before said in this series of articles that I consider massage the first aid to beauty. It has always seemed to me a cure-all for defects in beauty. It improves the complexion, improves the figure, brightens the expression and makes more beautiful the eyes. Therefore, to give the flat back and narrow hips that are part of an elegant figure, I advise deep massage, with an astringent liquid preparation.”

“After exercise and diet for improving the figure, there is nothing so important as to be well corseted.”

Above all, though, those classic statuary offer the key:

“For the consolation of women who have shapely figures, though built upon an ample scale, let me quote this dictum of an authority on womanly beauty: "It isn't the size, but the shape that counts. Proportion is the thing.’"

Photograph at top from Wikimedia Commons.
Photograph of Kitty Gordon from the book (larger photo here).

The people who owned New York

Loretta reports:

Looking for a little background to clarify some plot elements of Downton Abbey, I happened on the 1912 edition of McClure’s Magazine.  Burton J. Hendrick’s piece, “Permanent Owners of New York,” offered plenty of food for thought, starting with the photo of Vincent Astor.

The wealth of these U.S. families was phenomenal—a circumstance extremely helpful to British aristocrats obliged to sell their treasures—or themselves, as spouses— in order to repair, say, the ancestral roof.

The entire piece is well worth reading, for insights into how these fortunes were built, as well as some glimpses of the people themselves & their quirks.  Since the piece is far too long to reproduce here, we'll settle for Mr. Astor and John G. Wendel, whose photos and captions I particularly liked.

“The old Knickerbocker families of New York are to-day, precisely as were their predecessors in the early part of the nineteenth century, the owners of New York.  They invested their fortunes, not in railroads or in shipping or in manufactures, but in America’s most productive source of wealth—the soil of Manhattan Island.  They are the city’s landed aristocracy; they represent essentially the only American fortunes that endure from generation to generation; that maintain their own in the face of changing economic circumstances; and that steadily and surely increase from year to year."
...
"There is John D. Wendel, for example, a brother-in-law of the first John Jacob Astor, who made a fortune as a commission dealer in deerskins, and who invested it so thoughtfully in New York real estate that his grandson owns from $30,000,000 to $40,000,000 worth to-day."


 
McClure's magazine, Volume 39, 1912

Fashions for February 1836

Loretta reports:

~~~

Fashions for the month of February, 1836.

 

[EVENING] DRESS*

 Of black velvet; the corsage drapé, with short full sleeves. The hat of black velvet with rose-colour feathers and blonde lappets, arranged as a cap with flowers round the face. Zephyr scarf of rose-colour. Earrings and chain of gold, set with carbuncles.

WALKING DRESS.

 A Pelisse of green velvet with circular cape, collar of blonde with cherry cravat, bonnet of white plush, trimmed with cherry and a fall of white blond.

EVENING DRESS.

 Of white satin, with a small cape of blonde, narrow in the centre and fastened with a bow of riband; short full sleeves and kid gloves. Turban of red and gold tissue, with a bird of paradise and an esprit plume.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON FASHIONS AND DRESS.

. . .

Evening dress robes continue to be cut very low round the bosom, and the majority made with short sleeves. These are now, for the most part, made close to the arm, but with two or three sabots of the same material or else of white tulle, the latter is most fashionable, and certainly it has a very light and pretty effect upon a robe of rich silk or velvet. We see also some sleeves with the first beuffant composed of the material of the dress, and the second in blond or tulle, terminated by a manchette. A third style consists of a single beuffant on the tight sleeve, which is made to descend nearly to the elbow, and ornamented with two ruches of tulle. Long clear white sleeves are also a good deal in request in evening dress ; some are surmounted by small round mancherons of the same material as the robe; others are set into a small tight sleeve of the material of the dress, which descends upon the shoulder.

—from The Court magazine & monthly critic and lady's magazine: & museum of the belles lettres, music, fine arts, drama, fashions, Volume 8, 1836.

*Misprinted as Morning Dress in description.

Etiquette in the world of Downton Abbey

Loretta reports:

As may be obvious by now, Downton Abbey has sent this NHG peering into the corners of the Edwardian era.  They sure had some complicated etiquette; the Regency era is positively freewheeling by comparison.

If you don’t believe me, take a look at Manners and Rules of Good Society.  If you want to make your head spin, turn to Chapter III, Leaving Cards.

“THE etiquette of card-leaving is a privilege which society places in the hands of ladies to govern and determine their acquaintanceships and intimacies, to regulate and decide whom they will, and whom they will not visit, whom they will admit into their friendship, and whom they will keep on the most distant footing, whose acquaintance they wish further to cultivate and whose to discontinue.”

If you want to time travel, this chapter is a wonderful door to the past.  On our early 21st century side of the door is Facebook and Twitter and texting.  On the early 20th century side are little pieces of cardboard printed in copperplate script.

Or try Chapter XLIII, Engaged.
~~~
It greatly depends upon the views held by parents as to the freedom of action accorded to a daughter during her engagement. Some entertain the strictest ideas on this head, and strenuously put them in force.

By ‘strict ideas’ is meant that an engaged couple, except in the presence of a chaperon, are never, under any circumstances, permitted to enjoy a tête-à-tête sit together, walk together, ride together, or meet during any part of the day.

Wisdom and common-sense dictate a middle course of action for the consideration of parents, neither granting too much nor withholding too much.
. . .
To dance with each other at a ball, or dance more than three or four times in succession, and when not dancing to sit out in tea-rooms and conservatories, renders an engaged couple conspicuous, and this is precisely what many mothers are most anxious that their daughters should avoid being, and would rather that they were overprudent than that they should run the gauntlet of general criticism.
~~~
I leave you to speculate why, exactly, a daughter’s being conspicuous was so abhorrent to a mother 100 years ago, and what form the general criticism would take. 

Manners and Rules of Good Society, or Solecisms to be Avoided, by A Member of the Aristocracy (1911 ed.)