Godey's Lady's, Ballgowns and Women who Sewed for People

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19830010139 ac.JPG



Kent State Collection

1860s, Dinner dress of silk taffeta with ivory ground with large warp printed flowers in vertical band, flowers of reds and greens. Bodice with wide neck, V front with satin and ruchings, short net sleeves. Full skirt with vertical print and one slit pocket.

http://www2.kent.edu/museum/collection/online-catalogue.cfm
 
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These are incredible. You know, you get some idea of what it was like to create one, reading Elizabeth Keckley's book, ' Behind the Scenes...... ' . She does take a break from personalities of the day and describe her life. Well, almost. She glosses over what must have been times of great pain and massive hardship inclusive of the work involved in creating endless, endless dresses for women. At one point the dissipated man who feels he owns her relies entirlye on her sewing these to support he and his family, can you imagine? You do get the impression, or I did after thinking about it, that Keckley wished to keep her pain extremely private- not share it.

Sorry, do not mean to be off thread, was just looking at the incredible amount of stitching and work, thinking of the hours and hours these took. Just amazing!
 
"The prospects of war were freely discussed in my presence by Mr. and Mrs. Davis and their friends. The holidays were approaching, and Mrs. Davis kept me busy in manufacturing articles of dress for herself and children. She desired to present Mr. Davis on Christmas with a handsome dressing-gown. The material was purchased, and for weeks the work had been under way. Christmas eve came, and the gown had been laid aside so often that it was still unfinished. I saw that Mrs. D. was anxious to have it completed, so I volunteered to remain and work on it. Wearily the hours dragged on, but there was no rest for my busy fingers. I persevered in my task, notwithstanding my head was aching. Mrs. Davis was busy in the adjoining room, arranging the Christmas tree for the children. I looked at the clock, and the hands pointed to a quarter of twelve. I was arranging the cords on the gown when the Senator came in; he looked somewhat careworn, and his step seemed to be a little nervous. He leaned against the door, and expressed his admiration of the Christmas tree, but there was no smile on his face. Turning round, he saw me sitting in the adjoining room, and quickly exclaimed:

"That you, Lizzie! why are you here so late? Still at work; I hope that Mrs. Davis, is not too exacting!"

From
Behind the Scenes or Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House by Elizabeth Keckley


http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/keckley/keckley.html
 
Thank you for all the work put into yet another great thread in this forum. I was exploring color in fashion during the Civil War, did a search here to make sure I didn't start a duplicate thread, and found this (which is even better than what I had in mind)!

Some of us in the fiber community have started paying more attention to our color choices when we make our garments and accessories. We have started following Pantone's annual palette in their Fashion Color Report just for fun, and it has been a blast in terms of creativity and personal expression (we've learned a lot about ourselves and how we relate to colors).

I wondered how women 150+ years ago used color in their clothing, and if they had a publication or two that set the tone for trends. I'll be back in this thread when I'm more awake to enjoy the photos again. I love the idea of these women ~ like us today ~ pouring through fabrics and selecting favorites, perhaps thinking first of how the color looked against their skin but also vaguely aware of how certain colors made them feel.

Speaking of, here's Spring 2016's palette! Maybe we'll see some 1861 influences? :wink: (Oh, wouldn't Pantone doing one season's color report based on the CW era be fan-freakin'-tastic?!)
 
Thank you for all the work put into yet another great thread in this forum. I was exploring color in fashion during the Civil War, did a search here to make sure I didn't start a duplicate thread, and found this (which is even better than what I had in mind)!

Some of us in the fiber community have started paying more attention to our color choices when we make our garments and accessories. We have started following Pantone's annual palette in their Fashion Color Report just for fun, and it has been a blast in terms of creativity and personal expression (we've learned a lot about ourselves and how we relate to colors).

I wondered how women 150+ years ago used color in their clothing, and if they had a publication or two that set the tone for trends. I'll be back in this thread when I'm more awake to enjoy the photos again. I love the idea of these women ~ like us today ~ pouring through fabrics and selecting favorites, perhaps thinking first of how the color looked against their skin but also vaguely aware of how certain colors made them feel.

Speaking of, here's Spring 2016's palette! Maybe we'll see some 1861 influences? :wink: (Oh, wouldn't Pantone doing one season's color report based on the CW era be fan-freakin'-tastic?!)
LoriAnn, you might also try historical quilting pages for information on which colors were fashionable and available. Because quilts were often made from scraps of dress fabrics and reproduction quilts are popular, the quilting community has done a lot of research into this subject.

I wouldn't have expected that brilliant tangerine and white dress! Just goes to show that nothing can equal looking at originals for inspiration.
 
Speaking of, here's Spring 2016's palette! Maybe we'll see some 1861 influences? :wink: (Oh, wouldn't Pantone doing one season's color report based on the CW era be fan-freakin'-tastic?!)

Really hope this takes off! Beyond some of the more outrageous colors ( you know, neons only teenagers can pull off anyway ) there doesn't seem to be anything impossible for early dye masters. Gosh the dresses were stunning. There are blues and greens and purples you could swear you haven't seen around today. I'm no expert, also guessing the amazing colors were not terribly common, not for every day garments? We have a decent amount of clothing from the era passed down, some jackets, skirts, etc. Mostly blacks, what used to be white, blue and one virulent green cloak. It's always struck me how little color there is.
 
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