Tuesday, March 22

edwardian dresses


Can you just imagine living in the say, 1950s, when Edwardian clothing was still lingering in grandmother's attics, when it was still wearable, when it was vintage as opposed to antique? I cannot. But I am thankful that there are still SOME Edwardian pieces in the world in good condition, I am happy to own some, but nothing like the examples here. I love Edwardian dress, I love how it's so distinct from Victorian dress, so much more "modern" if you will. I will admit being bothered by antique and vintage sellers who confuse the two unable to see the sharp contrast that exists between Victorian and Edwardian clothing. I especially love when motifs of the Arts & Crafts movement seep into the garments (as in the first dress in this post). I love the muted color palette, the slim silhouette and the ultra-feminine lace and silk. Watching Downton Abbey was a veritable eye-feast - seeing real people, in color, move around in dresses from the early 1900s, yes please. I am pretty sure I am going to watch all 7 episodes again.

19 comments:

Eliz said...

Downton Abbey is so great. Didn't you love Sybil's risque pantaloons??

thequiltedmitten said...

It really bothers me when vintage clothing dealers mis-date things; especially from the early 20th century or older. Fashion did not change rapidly then, and there are distinct differences between periods. It does not take a lot of research to figure out how old something really is.

I was antiquing the other day, and found a bustle dress from the late 1870s. It was beautiful, but the dealer had labeled it as a Civil War dress, which is not only nearly 20 years earlier than this dress was made, but distintly different in style and silhouette. A simple google image search would've given the dealer the info they needed, but they were too lazy. It bothered me.

Melissa Righero said...

These all took my breath away. There were three gasps as I scrolled down...My husband asked what's wrong with me. And no I can not imagine living and having grandmother hand me downs...I would stuff them away and keep them all for myself, and not share.

Stella said...

Love, love, love. So pretty, so elegant.

BaronessVonVintage said...

These are some incredible pieces. Just amazing! You know what? I am lucky enough that, for some otherworldly reason, my great grandmother's wedding dress set, from about 1901 (the cusp between Victorian and Edwardian, if you go by the idea that victorian = 1837-1901, the reign of V), has survived in literally perfect condition after more than a century of being stored in a relative's attic. Lucky me, this relative found me and sent me this amazing piece of family and fashion history. http://lettersfromhomefront.blogspot.com/2011/01/fashion-family-tree-two.html

This gives me hope that there may be other Edwardian time capsule dresses out there, but the more delicate lace, silk, beaded ones are surely very hard to come by in pristine condition outside of museums.

Jessica / Lola Vintage said...

The peacock dress is STUNNING beyond belief!

Lauren said...

These are amazing! I am completely in love with this period. My first love for vintage!
Thanks for the amazingly beautiful images!

avintagespirit (Lizzy) said...

Wow, these gowns are exquisite, especially the pink and white one. I adore Edwardian fashion, as you say it's so different from Victorian. While I love both, Edwardian is my favorite. I too am envious of people who lived early enough to be able to wear pieces like this, though these dresses still bring joy as antiques.

brinniboo said...

wowww!!! these are absolutely gorgeous!!!!! it would be cool to use a a wedding dress ro something........

Anonymous said...

Except they were surpressed and had few other options than to make a dress look beautiful.

Today, a lot of us are fortunate enough to be able to choose what to wear and be a woman and wear what we do.

I respect the history and the skill, but I look at this and I can't imagine what women went through. I would never want to live in those times.

I love vintage clothing and all of the wonderful women that wore it and took care of it. But would I trade places? Probably not. We are liberated, why would we want to go back!

sib vintage said...

gasp! they are all so, SO stunning!

la femme said...

My favourite period of dress (well that and the 1830s, although I don't own any pieces from the latter period yet :) Thank you for this post. I just bought an Edwardian wedding dress.

Unknown said...

I've got screen grabs from Downton Abbey rotating as my wallpaper for inspiration, it was difficult to concentrate on what they were saying with some of those clothes!

Karen/Small Earth Vintage said...

Oh. The peacock dress.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful...totally in love with the peacock dress. All so lovely! I loved Downton Abbey so much...wonderful cast, beautiful clothing. I adored Sybil's "pants".

Destrehan's Daughter said...

Love these dresses. I used to be a costumed tour guide but we never dressed in clothes from this late of a period. I love Downton Abbey, too, and can't wait for them to finish some new episodes.

Quamara said...

I really love the first dress shown. Do you by any chance have any additional photos of it that show more of the details of the dress?

ritika said...

It is nice to keep ourselves updated with every change that comes in cuts, color and design of every dress. I have also got great collection of women t shirts online
at exclusive store.

Sheena Ball said...

Absolutely classic! These wnderful Vintage Womens Dresses makes lots of sense while being adorn. Really felt grateful to explore such a blog!

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