This was a beautiful ball at a beautiful hall. I will always have a particular fondness for the 1860s. My dress is far from finished, but I got it wearable (sensing a theme, here? Most of my clothes were only almost ready for Newport... on the bright side, most of them were new!). As you may have guessed, it draws some heavy inspiration from Sisi and Mrs. C W Stoughton (
check out this old post for pictures). This is mostly because I found the super neat gauze fabric with gold stars and couldn't resist. Also, I've been wanting a white silk ballgown for a while. In the modern world (where 90% of women wear black to parties... isn't that strange?), white is so strongly associated with weddings that a white silk ballgown screams "wedding dress" to most modern people. But in the nineteenth century, white silk ballgowns were very much a thing for young ladies.
Julia wore a lovely plaid silk ballgown (and do you recognize the drippy hair wreath I made?), and mother wore her mustard silk with the amazing embroidery. It is really incredible fabric. So we were all looking very spiffy indeed. At the end of the ball, mother and I were getting a bit experimental with the photography, so that explains the "Antonia looking ghostly in the mist" and "Barbara in the terrible evening shadows" pictures at the end.
"Also, I've been wanting a white silk ballgown for a while. In the modern world (where 90% of women wear black to parties... isn't that strange?"
ReplyDeleteHow very true! Even during the first half of the 20th century, white evening and ball gowns were still considered appropriate for young women: http://collections.mocp.org/detail.php?t=objects&type=browse&f=maker&s=Dahl-Wolfe%2C+Louise&record=23
Dior some beautiful white ball gowns. Unfortunately, today we have strapless wedding dresses that look like ball gowns, which were and are meant for formal evening functions, and all the proper lines have become blurred.