The New Dress, by Talbot Hughes

On one hand, I really love this dress. It is so beautifully fitted and attractive, the fabric is lovely, and it is just striking. On the other hand, it is also the weirdest thing I've ever seen. What is going on here? Is it an European dress with a drape? A fitted sari? Can you even do that? I just don't even know how to interpret this. I wonder if this is a thing I just don't know about, or if it is a lone occurrence because artists are weird and don't have to paint normal dresses. Anyway, it sure is pretty.

 But since the red and gold brocade is so inspiring, here is another Worth for you (although it is certainly a bit earlier at 1885). Oh yeah!

Chez L'Artiste (Les Gravures) by Albert Edelfelt

Do I have a thing for french paintings? Perhaps. But it means I don't do a good job learning things about them. This appears to be from 1881. I just LOVE the black and white look here. It is so striking. My favorite part is the cute white shoes with black stockings. It is a bold look don't you think? And the gloves make the outfit.

Jules Louis Machard: Jeune femme en tenue de soiree assise pres dun bouquet dhortensias

I love this painting. Unfortunately, I can't find any information about it in English, so it will have to speak for itself. The sleeves are hideously wonderful, all covered in lavender ruffles. The square neckline decoration is actually pretty compelling, in my opinion. I find the fact that this is a 1890s looking ensemble where the skirt and bodice don't really have anything to do with each other really interesting - I have seen a couple of other examples like this, but it does not appear to be particularly common.

Oscar Arthur Bluhm - "Leutnant (und Dame)"

I know basically nothing about this painting, except it seems to have gone up for auction under the title of "Leutnant (und Dame) (um 1900)." But what I love is that charming late-century uniform with the great boots and a monocle or possibly glasses (but I'm voting monocle, because that would obviously cooler). And then there is the woman, wearing a wonderful trained skirt. I love trains. I am not completely confident that this is her whole outfit (as opposed to her being in a state of mild un-dress), but I'm going to pretend I am. In which case, I really like the fabulous and dramatic skirt with a cute belt (maybe, anyway) and a little nothing blouse. I am inspired to make trains... or possibly uniforms. Oh dear.

The End of the Ball - Rogelio de Egusquiza

This is a pretty painting. But the interesting part, in my opinion, is the study photograph it is clearly based on. I love the way they've propped up her train on a stool to make it look like it is swishing.

Vienna, Day 2

Day two was full of walking in the frigid cold, and museums. I love museums, and my computer is currently choking on the hundreds of pictures I took in the Kunsthistorisches (Art, but we really only did the antiquities wing this time) and Heeresgeschichtliches (military history!) museum. Most of the pictures are terrible and covered with glare, so don't get too excited. In fact, I really don't have time to go through and identify all the important ones, so those detailed blog posts (on wonderfully drool-worthy delicious uniforms... covered with glare) will have to wait. For now, here is the quick run-down of the day. We started walking. Hilarious things we passed included a Rock Pub! I don't know why this is so entertaining, but it is indeed.

 We walked by this sign, which of course made me think of my friend Adrian the Maya Archaeologist.

We walked by a cake decorating shop, and the word "zucherblumen" was greatly entertaining.

"Intensive kinder mamma-baby" sounded like something crazy, but then we decided they were different types of available yoga classes.

The art museum was very grand indeed.

It has a lot of neat Egyptain stuff, but the best were the animal mummies. My favorite was the giant crocodile and baby crocodiles, but Julia really liked the monkey-in-a-monkey.

 

 

There was too much amazing art for my pictures to do it any justice. So I'll just show you my collection of ancient Greek croquet pictures. I'm sure those aren't really croquet mallets, but I had a surprising amount of fun pretending they were!

 

 

I promise pictures of uniforms later... really. Here is a really cool plane for now.

When One Tiara Is Not Enough

Sometimes you need a really spectacular, jaw dropping, sparkly, incredible, gorgeous tiara. And then there are those times where one tiara won't do the trick. In that case, I suggest you take a page out of Empress Josephine's book and wear TWO TIARAS AT ONCE. Or at the very least, a tiara and a fabulous matching comb, or a band and a tiara... or even a tiara in front and a crown in back. WOAH! It actually never occurred to me that you could do this, and then I thought it was perhaps just and odd thing about Josephine. But I have now concluded that this trend can be identified in the Regency period not just in Josephine, not just in other Bonapartes, but in lots of people! Or at least royal people totally decked out in court dress. Observe!
First, Josephine Bonaparte: these are the images I most think of.

This one is interesting too... a big band, and two other somethings in the back?

 This is obviously a tiara and a comb, but it is still pretty cool.

Not sure here, but the stand up pearls in the back suggest more than one tiara-object going on.

Look! Tiara plus crown. Oh yeah.

And this one is also a tiara plus crown, I think, even though it is really difficult to see. Not sure how to make it clearer, but I'm pretty sure that's what is happening.

But now let us look at someone who is not Josephine sporting a similar look. Awkwardly enough, it is Maria Louise, Napoleon's second wife. Nice tiara and crown.

And here is Marie Pauline Bonaparte:

And let us not forget Hortense Bonaparte. The first one is quite subtle, but there is totally something far back on her head with green gems in it. For the other one, she certainly has a band of some sort in front and a small tiara further back on her head. Cool.

But it is not just the Bonapartes who wear this double-crown look. Here is Empress Maria Anna Carolina (yeah, I'm using some things that are definitely later than regency... but they are such cool examples that it can't be helped).

Anna Maria 7th Duchess of Bedford.

Maria Isabel de Borbon.

Queen Teresa of Bavaria, who wins my vote for favorite tiara plus crown combo. Not only that, but she is totally mixing gold and silver, which I am always nervous to do. Very nice.

Karoline Auguste von Bayern.

 Queen Desideria.

 Princess Auguste-Amalie of Bavaria.

Caroline Murat, one that is dim but really looks to me like there is a second hair ornament in the back, and one that is just too complicated to be a single tiara, though I can't make out the parts and it seems asymmetrical (like a tiara, a comb, and a crown? I just don't know now!).

So isn't that cool? I want to wear piles and piles of jewelry!

Fringe Tiaras as Bodice Jewelry

Fringe tiaras are beautiful and fabulous. They look like this, and have been favorites of royalty throughout the 19th century and beyond. Sometimes they have rounded points, or pointy points, or two types of interlocking spikes... but they all have this approximate Russian-kokoshnik-esque shape. You can wear them perched on your head, or if you're from the 1920s slide them down to the forehead like a bandeau.

 

 

A lot of these tiaras can be worn either as tiaras or necklaces. Extra bang for your buck, right? Actually, convertible tiaras are surpisingly common, and you can find all kinds of cool things (like tiaras where you can pop the jewels out and they are mounted on clips or broach backs, or the tiara breaks into pieces to be worn as a set of bracelets and rings... all sorts of things!). But since I'm focusing on fringe tiaras, let's stay on topic. I think it is neat that the nature of the many-pointed-pieces lets the tiara spread out to lie flat as a necklace. It is very simple and clever.

 But wait, there's more! I think this is totally neat and brilliant. Here is Queen Alexandra wearing what I believe is one or two fringe tiaras... around her waist, attached to the pointed bottom of her bodice. Like an amazing sparkly spikey belt or girdle! HOW COOL IS THAT?

 And here is a picture of Lilly Langtry, doing what looks to me like the same thing. Awesome!

 This is different, but here is are two cool dresses with beaded trim, applied to create a similar effect. I guess this is what you do if you can't afford an amazing fringe tiara. Oh, I need one! Or rather, two (to go around my waist, obviosly!).