Friday 29 January 2016

La petite Princesse

When I started my historical research to make the first Victorian dress I was fascinated by the elegant luxury of details, ideas,possibilities that fashion of this period  showed.

Not only the richness of the fabrics but also the tailoring geometry, embroidery, construction details were so interesting that could not be summed up in only one dress.

This is the reason why  from time to time  I have had ideas of other tailoring possibilities , other decorative patterns  to express the refinement of the elements of this period.


Quite naturally then I wanted to give life to these chances once again in a new ensemble.

Renoir was the main inspiration for this dress more than any other painter of the Victorian era.

This wonderful painter loved the color light blue  as shown in his paintings and like in the The Blue Boy  by Thomas Gainsborough, he knew how to express on canvas the joyful lightness, purity and vibrant life of this color for  several portraits of young girls.


 The new creation shows a lower skirt  kilted  all around: the discreet richness of classical vertical pleats  skirt , typical of the victorian girls skirts ,with a symmetrical central  detail complements the horizontality of the overlying draping in blush color, placed in a context of lightness given by  the use of silk as  material  of  the dress .

The front and back drapings are closely gathered to the bodice with the lower ends looped up . Valenciennes cotton lace , stained with tea , gives a symmetrical front decoration at the top of the dress : the victorian silhouette lives in the delineation  of the princess-cut base.The long bodice fits  smoothly to the hips with curved seaming . A blue silk bow  at  neck emphasizes the delicacy of the ensemble.

The Valenciennes cotton  lace collar , always stained with tea , shaped as an opening flower  gives the grace and elegance of a dancer moving in space

The sleeves, gently flared at the bottom, echo the same decoration of the central part of the dress with vertical pleats and  horizontal ribbon with Valenciennes lace details on the edges of the cuff.

The dress is fully lined with silky white lining.




Two side bows of pure silk give movement to the composition of the  skirt and draping  effect.


On the back of the dress a bow emphasizes the wave  line of the draping

 The pure silk cape   takes over the definition of the decorative elements giving lightness with a flower design in

cuts underlined by pure silk  tassels (2 on the front , 3 on the back ) in a soft cream  color and double-stitched cream  rows that emphasize the subtle elegance in the  wedgwood shades.


A hairpin made of the same silk of the dress in a very  elaborate composition of multiple bows to emulate a blooming flower, is  part of the hairstyle characteristic of the time. I freely took insipration from the b hairstyle in the next  image



The crocheted  purse of pure cotton  rose-shaped, closed with ribbons of pure silk arranged in a game of double flamboyant bows , adds a touch of elegant refinement.



La Petite Princesse ensemble  (dress, cape , hairpin and bag ) will be listed on Ebay on 31th January 2016.


I hope you will like it , thank you

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