Robe de Style Thoughts
15 August 2013 01:58 pmGroup projects are fun. For me, it's also funny how some I want to do from the get-go, like the Plaid Project, and some I'm not too keen on, like Jampagne. Because usually there's no good reason for either. The Plaid project was a lot of work, none of the fancy accessories I'd planned were finished, I was sewing at the last minute, and had to bring all the heavy stuff for 1860s; but from the moment I saw the price on the bolt I knew I was in. Whereas I never really found inspiration for Jampagne and didn't really regret not getting anything together. And the 18th century court dress group... I was having so much fun, watching my friends page and see gorgeous dress after gorgeous dress claimed, and it only belatedly crossed my mind - "Hmm... I have no intention of doing this!" I honestly don't know why. It might be because I've just done a court dress; although it's for another country and the wrong period. It taught me a lot, and I don't imagine an 18th century gown would be much harder. I know I have the technical skills, and the fabric expense I can manage if I really want to; and I have seen several examples that I really did like. I'm just not feeling it!
But 1920s robe de style? As soon as I saw the title of Katherine's post, the little light bulb went "Ding!" and I was 95% on it. Then Lauren declared herself in, and that was that!
I've already decided that 1915/1916, the only years with full skirts, are the only years I'm really drawn to in the 1910s. And now with the "robe de style," it's a natural step to plump for the only full-skirted fashionable silhouette of the following decade!
Interestingly, in a recent installment of her blog series "The Myth of Chanel and the 1920s,"![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
chocolatepot had this to say about the term "robe de style":
'It's generally called the robe de style, because a) a few fashion plates label it as such, and b) we fashion historians love having specific names for specific styles of dress (as well as specific traits to pin to specific designers). But in the research I've done recently on the 1920s, it's become fairly clear to me that the vast majority of people and designers and fashion editors would refer to it as the "bouffant look"/the "full-skirted silhouette" or simply call them evening or afternoon dresses with various adjectives such as "romantic", "nostalgic", "old-fashioned", &c. Robe de style is not an anachronistic term, but it seems to me that calling every full-skirted 1920s dress a robe de style as though they were seen as unrelated to "ordinary" dress is not true to history.'
Interesting! For the purposes of the group, and its correspondence to the 18th century court dress, what we're calling the "robe de style" incorporates some kind of side hoop or pannier support in the skirt. I set up a Pinterest board (of course) to collect images and rapidly discovered that the term "robe de style" is indeed applied to all kinds of dresses, including some which, while they might have gathered skirts, clearly lack any kind of skirt support. Accordingly, I limited my board to only those which demonstrate that support, either clearly (with visible lines or even the boning itself, through sheer fabric), or by inference, in the cases of very full skirts that don't obviously "break" over the hoop.
Even with this self-imposed limit, I found a LOT of images. There are over 100 on the board, and well over half of that number are originals. I saw some patterns as I was pinning:
* The robe de style/pannier dress is dated throughout the 1920s, with some examples from the late 1910s and at least two from the 1930s.
* There are three primary types of fabrics used: net/organza, taffeta, and satin. Note that all three textiles usually have body to them. Conclusion: the pannier dress works best with a fabric that floats on and over the skirt support, not draping and hanging heavily from it like a charmeuse or crepe. Net, particularly the embroidered examples from Boué Soeurs, is somewhat an exception; but also in these gowns the skirt support itself is supposed to be visible through the sheer.
* This is not limited to evening wear. It is not limited to either dark or light colors for evening.
* Skirts tend to be fairly long, though not touching the ground.
* The styling does modify throughout the decade, with bodice style and skirt length, but it's fairly subtle.
Now... what am I planning? I'm not sure yet; there are several ideas I'm mulling over. I REALLY like this one:
It's a Lanvin gown from Fall/Winter 1926-27, and must have been an extremely popular model.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has two versions, both in black silk (here and here), and Kent State has one in black velvet.
I really love the silhouette on this one. The full a-line skirt is my favorite shape, and while the dress waist is dropped slightly and curved, the beautiful beading follows the natural waist even in the back. Seriously, I think this would be pretty amazing on my figure. And plus, this is one of the few originals that has a picture of the under-dress, in this case with the soft pannier line given by a curve of horsehair (I think) on each side.
I also love the fact that the pink dress shows Lanvin did models in different colors. The pink is gorgeous, but I'm not sure I'll find it exactly; and I'm not sure I want to do another pink dress for the gala. I DO have a big lack of blue in my costuming wardrobe, though, so maybe that would work?
So what's the problem? The beading! I really haven't ever beaded anything before. A project of this magnitude is not the best place to start. But the Met pictures are clear, and make it look beguilingly do-able.
That one is far and away the one that stood out the most, but there are still others I liked.
The sleeves on this are awesome, and I'd love it in a rich jewel-tone color. The trim is very close to what Katherine already did with her green robe de style, though.
The lines of this one are just gorgeous. But *gasp* it also has beading on it!
But 1920s robe de style? As soon as I saw the title of Katherine's post, the little light bulb went "Ding!" and I was 95% on it. Then Lauren declared herself in, and that was that!
I've already decided that 1915/1916, the only years with full skirts, are the only years I'm really drawn to in the 1910s. And now with the "robe de style," it's a natural step to plump for the only full-skirted fashionable silhouette of the following decade!
Interestingly, in a recent installment of her blog series "The Myth of Chanel and the 1920s,"
chocolatepot had this to say about the term "robe de style":'It's generally called the robe de style, because a) a few fashion plates label it as such, and b) we fashion historians love having specific names for specific styles of dress (as well as specific traits to pin to specific designers). But in the research I've done recently on the 1920s, it's become fairly clear to me that the vast majority of people and designers and fashion editors would refer to it as the "bouffant look"/the "full-skirted silhouette" or simply call them evening or afternoon dresses with various adjectives such as "romantic", "nostalgic", "old-fashioned", &c. Robe de style is not an anachronistic term, but it seems to me that calling every full-skirted 1920s dress a robe de style as though they were seen as unrelated to "ordinary" dress is not true to history.'
Interesting! For the purposes of the group, and its correspondence to the 18th century court dress, what we're calling the "robe de style" incorporates some kind of side hoop or pannier support in the skirt. I set up a Pinterest board (of course) to collect images and rapidly discovered that the term "robe de style" is indeed applied to all kinds of dresses, including some which, while they might have gathered skirts, clearly lack any kind of skirt support. Accordingly, I limited my board to only those which demonstrate that support, either clearly (with visible lines or even the boning itself, through sheer fabric), or by inference, in the cases of very full skirts that don't obviously "break" over the hoop.
Even with this self-imposed limit, I found a LOT of images. There are over 100 on the board, and well over half of that number are originals. I saw some patterns as I was pinning:
* The robe de style/pannier dress is dated throughout the 1920s, with some examples from the late 1910s and at least two from the 1930s.
* There are three primary types of fabrics used: net/organza, taffeta, and satin. Note that all three textiles usually have body to them. Conclusion: the pannier dress works best with a fabric that floats on and over the skirt support, not draping and hanging heavily from it like a charmeuse or crepe. Net, particularly the embroidered examples from Boué Soeurs, is somewhat an exception; but also in these gowns the skirt support itself is supposed to be visible through the sheer.
* This is not limited to evening wear. It is not limited to either dark or light colors for evening.
* Skirts tend to be fairly long, though not touching the ground.
* The styling does modify throughout the decade, with bodice style and skirt length, but it's fairly subtle.
Now... what am I planning? I'm not sure yet; there are several ideas I'm mulling over. I REALLY like this one:
It's a Lanvin gown from Fall/Winter 1926-27, and must have been an extremely popular model.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has two versions, both in black silk (here and here), and Kent State has one in black velvet.
I really love the silhouette on this one. The full a-line skirt is my favorite shape, and while the dress waist is dropped slightly and curved, the beautiful beading follows the natural waist even in the back. Seriously, I think this would be pretty amazing on my figure. And plus, this is one of the few originals that has a picture of the under-dress, in this case with the soft pannier line given by a curve of horsehair (I think) on each side.
I also love the fact that the pink dress shows Lanvin did models in different colors. The pink is gorgeous, but I'm not sure I'll find it exactly; and I'm not sure I want to do another pink dress for the gala. I DO have a big lack of blue in my costuming wardrobe, though, so maybe that would work?
So what's the problem? The beading! I really haven't ever beaded anything before. A project of this magnitude is not the best place to start. But the Met pictures are clear, and make it look beguilingly do-able.
That one is far and away the one that stood out the most, but there are still others I liked.
The sleeves on this are awesome, and I'd love it in a rich jewel-tone color. The trim is very close to what Katherine already did with her green robe de style, though.
The lines of this one are just gorgeous. But *gasp* it also has beading on it!
