The floral embroidered blue silk gown designed in the early 1880s had the design elements of tiered pleats, a bustle, chenille fringe and multiple embellishments which incorporated many different fashions of the time.
El Jaleo is one of Sargent’s many paintings relating to Romani culture, and brings a vivid scene of Spanish dance, music, and fashion to the viewer.
Basque bodices with lace trimming were highly fashionable for women in the year 1880. Polka-dotted textiles appeared frequently in fashion plates, and the color purple was considered stylish.
Dance at Bougival captures a dance in progress, with a casually dressed man whirling around a woman in a simple but fashionable pink cotton ensemble.
1880s women’s fashion was defined by the rigidly structured bustle and an abundance of decoration. Dress reformers, influenced by artistic movements, protested these heavy, ultra restrictive trends.
In City Dance, Renoir paints a fashionable Parisienne, waltzing with her dance partner, in a winter ball. Dressed in the latest neoclassically draped evening dress style for young women, the dancer’s simple, draped gown is tasteful and classic in the lack of heavy ornamentation and frills.
A form-fitting, long-waisted, boned bodice worn in the 1870s and 1880s–almost gives the appearance of armor as the name suggests.
A pinnacle of 1880s fashion, this bustled gown’s many intricate style details, full silhouette, and bright red color make it a dress to be admired now and envied then.
William Merritt Chase captures the style and youth of his art student, Mariette Benedict Cotton, in this portrait. She wears a black day dress made in the traditional bustle silhouette of the period with puffed sleeves that were rising in popularity at the time. Chase’s use of light adds depth to the piece, emphasizing folds in the fabric and the glittering of Cotton’s eyes and jewelry.
Extreme bustles, striped patterns, and elaborate embellishments were all staples of the year 1886, characterizing it as a time of highly exaggerated and decorative fashion.
Although dressed in theatrical costume, Degas’ Singer in Green contains details that were fashionable for women’s evening wear at the time, including an off-the-shoulder neckline, a downward-pointing bodice, a diagonal-striped pattern, and a choker-style necklace. What is less fashionable is its lack of applied florals and the bold color palette, which signals the fact that it is a costume.
Mary Cassatt’s 1880 portrait of Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly features the artist’s ailing sister, Lydia Cassatt, wearing a large white bonnet and a blue day dress accented with a plaid print and white lace–a common dress style of the time.
The Fez and the Ottoman Path to Modernity
1869 – Red Silk Dress
katazome (stencil printing)
1905 – André Derain, Lucien Gilbert
Inès Gâches-Sarraute and the Straight-Front Corset