Periodically, fashion dictates that furniture chintz
is the perfect fabric for a dress.
1960 ???
Netherlands, 17th century
And France in the 18th
Madame Pompadour
Pucci in the 1970s
French 1850s
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Much of this large scale floral fabric is silk and the truly elegant stuff is woven into patterns or embroidered with the pattern.
Dress worn by Queen Victoria in 1855.
Museum of the City of London
But prints have always been an inexpensive copy of woven pattern
Deborah Sampson's dress
Historic New England
Painting from the Index of American Design
Alexandra of Denmark engaged to England's Prince Edward
1860s
France's Empress Eugenie set fashion. She always had the widest skirts.
Eugenie's bodice on a reproduction skirt
Eugenie in 1858
Mary Lincoln liked to think she was the American
Empress
Two portraits of the First Lady from the early 1860s
Oswego, New York
Is that a bird print in the border of this skirt?
Christian Dior
Nice outfit!
So Scarlett OHara was not so nuts in making a dress out of the curtains! There is/was a precedent.
ReplyDeleteThese dresses are fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThank you, I enjoyed all the pics & prints! You've got to have a server just for the pics. Great post.
ReplyDeletePerfect for the job! Beautiful dresses. Not sure about the ruffles though - a tad over the top?
ReplyDeleteYears ago a carpet company over here (Brintons) used to advertise with crinolines and other designs all made from carpet. I doubt they had the flexibility though! I also doubt that the carpet could be worn but set on a frame for the model to stand behind, or inside.
Love this, and the reference to Scarlett. Make sure to check out the spoof on that movie as a sketch on the Carol Burnet show, find it on You tube. LOL!
ReplyDeleteChintz is technically the fiber, right? (Glazed cotton.) The big splashy flowers are just a type of pattern....The danger of using upholstery or drapery goods for a garment is that those very flowers are not always placed to flatter one's figure....That said, one of my favorite summer shirts is made from a piece of garment linen printed with big (well, big-ish) flowers. I got the fabric on Nantucket back in 2003, made the shirt in 2006, and I still love it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing such a wonderful post. I love it so much.Office Furniture
ReplyDelete