So I took Rue to India in the first Custard Protocol book,
Prudence. It was a lot of fun for the both of us. And, as it's me, I also kept an eye open to the fashion world. India was an occupied territory during the Victorian times, and fabrics and fashion moved from there across the world and into the lives of Victorians in a myriad of ways.
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1885 Visite Les Arts Décoratifs |
Not all of the images I collected are strictly Indian. Some are from surrounding occupied territories or highlight other Silk Road influences. Nevertheless, they struck me as quite interesting, so I have presented them for you here.
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Fancy Dress Costume Charles Fredrick Worth, 1870 The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
I dithered on how to show these. I went with some original historical clothing items, along with some Victorian and later takes on the same theme and, where possible, a modern fashion look. Also there's jewelry!
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Pendant 1860 Bonham’s |
Here we go...
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17th-18th century The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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1867 Les Arts Décoratifs |
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Pietro Yantorny, 1920 The Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
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1910 Evening Dress late 1910s The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
1920s Raymond Dunca; Marchesa SS2013
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19th Radhakrishna pendant India, 19th century Christie’s |
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Tunic India (Peshawar), late 19th century-early 20th century The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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1855 via fashionsfromhistory-tumblr Dressing Gown MFA |
1915-1916 Callot Soeurs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Marchesa SS2013
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Court Ensemble India (Lucknow), 19th century The Victoria & Albert Museum |
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1820 Turban The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
1907 The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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1935 Jeanne Lanvin The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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Tunic India, 19th century The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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Evening Dress 1893 The Museum of London |
"This evening dress is decorated with net panels embroidered with gold
thread and beetle wing cases from a species of jewel beetle. The panels
were probably made in India where Madras and Calcutta were centres for
beetle-wing embroidery made for the European market. The iridescent
blue-green beetle wing cases reflect the light like sequins. This type
of embroidery is found in British museum collections on dress, textiles
and accessories dating from the 1780s until about 1930. Although Indian
embroiderers introduced the technique, using it to decorate dress and
domestic textiles, Europeans copied them, sometimes using the wing cases
of a species of South American jewel beetle. This style of embroidery
was also thought to be a suitable pastime for ladies of leisure, who
were advised to use a Walker’s number eight needle and green silk
thread."
Dress Weeks, 1910 The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Mainbocher, 1950 The Metropolitan Museum of Art; 1913 Lapmshade Tunic Paul Poiret, 1913 The FIDM Museum
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Marchesa SS2013 |
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Opal Bracelet 1900 Christie’s |
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Shirt India (Bikaner), 1850s The Victoria & Albert Museum |
Reception Dress Callot Soeurs, 1910 The Philadelphia Museum of Art; Lounging Pajamas Callot Soeurs, 1911-1913
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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Fancy Dress Costumes Paul Poiret, 1913-1914 The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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Sari India (Lucknow), early 19th century The Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
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Necklace India, 19th century Sotheby’s |
1911 Lucile, Whitaker Auctions; Carolyn Schnurer, 1950 The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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1951 Bathing Suit Carolyn Schnurer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Kurta India The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
1970s Hanae Mori The Frock; Marchesa SS2013
1960 Madame Grès, 1960 The Metropolitan Museum of Art; 1960s Timeless Vixen Vintage
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Jama India, 17th century The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Lounging Pajamas Callot Soeurs, 1911-1913; Evening Dress Callot Soeurs, 1913
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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Hasli Necklace India, 19th century Christie’s |
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Court Robe India, 18th century The Victoria & Albert Museum |
1911 Evening Dress Weeks The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Evening Dress Madame Eta Hentz
Spring/Summer 1944 MET
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Marchesa SS2013 White
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Necklace India (Rajasthan), 19th century Christie’s |
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Coat India (Kashmir) The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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Choga India, late 19th century The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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George Halley, 1960s 1stdibs.com |
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Aba India (Kutch), mid-19th century The Victoria & Albert Museum |
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1980 Zandra Rhodes, 1980s The Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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2014 Valentino via Red Carpet Fashion Awards |
Stunning Exhibition of Indian Textiles
Retro Rack is also on
Facebook, where I post additional images and fashion thoughts.
You can also visit the following shopping lists:
Travel Dork,
My Steampunk,
My Wardrobe.
These are gorgeous - thanks for sharing! I love the research you put into your stories and the attention to detail.
ReplyDeleteso much beauty! thank you :-)
ReplyDelete