The motivation for this study was trying to establish a different view on Queen Alexandra through the examination of her wardrobe and tailer made garments. Using clothing as a source to add a deeper understanding to her known biographical facts, and potentially find out new facets of her life.
Research question: As it has not been done before, what new biographical facts can we uncover about Queen Alexandra through the details of her style and wardrobe.
The time period covered in this study was that of Queen Alexandra’s life, 1844-1925. From her early life in Denmark as Princess Alexandra of Wales , to becoming Queen Consort after the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, Alexandra ruled with elegance and a large yet humble influence on the royal
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Examined is the memoir of Cecil Beaton, where he describes the Queens taste for fancy dresses, saying that the Queen used them as a tool to remove herself from the common people and to create distance between them and the court.
27. Shows the back view of a beautiful court dress, that was specially made for Queen Alexandra by Morin Blossier c. 1902. It is held in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 942.12.3
28. Shows a close up view of the previously described dress, showing the asymmetry of the back closure. The author uses this as a diagnostic of the Queens posture, saying after years of limping from her bad knee, her tailor purposefully altered her dresses to give the illusion of a straight spine where there wasn’t one. This was done to minimize any speculation of her health.
Through this study the author learned that, although plagued with sensory and physical disabilities, and trying very hard to cover these ailments, queen Alexandra was at the heart of society for the better half of a century. She was known for inciting new trends whilst maintaining a modest approach to consumption and glamour. Specifically, through this study it was discovered that, because of a limp that Alexandra was left with after her bout of Rheumatic fever, she developed a crooked spine. Evidence of this is shown through the asymmetric closure on the backs of her dresses, that had been carefully tailored so as not to bring any attention to this
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To understand what had already been researched and learnt about her, the author would have had to have done a thorough investigation to insure that her claims were original and not already studied.
The theoretical framework that the author engaged with in this study were aspects of modernity and royal status. Queen Alexandra expressed great enthusiasm for the re-use of her clothes, whilst also upholding the formality of being a royal. It was discovered that not only did Alexandra reuse her old clothing to make new dresses, those dresses were also used to become the covers for chairs and couches. So although she held the position of the Queen and had at hand many options of dress and tailoring, she often chose to reuse items purely because she preferred
Victorian Fashion refers to the styles and clothing worn before and during the Civil War era of the United States, 1860-1900. This era was filled with a very difficult way of dressing oneself and to deviate from this line of dress was unheard of, and worthy of being outcaste. Victorian women’s clothing was layers, heavy, and barely manageable to even wear. Many different articles made up the full garment such as the undergarments, the skirt, top, shoes, accessories, and even the hair. How did women ready themselves for the day in this era and how did they deal with all the cumbersome attire?
The empress was a leader of the world of dress. She swept away many people on with her fashion statements. In Paris every lady would walk and hold her head like the empress. Everything about Eugenie was imitated; her tint in her hair, her glance of her eyes and even the motion of her figure. In 1857 she became to have a liking to artificial flowers and everyone in Paris followed along. People even copied the empress’s hair; her corkscrew curls. The most popular of all was Eugenie’s crinolines which lasted a decade. Empress Eugenie spent 60,034,000 total francs on all of her clothing for balls in
When one thinks of becoming a princess or even royalty, the idea of the magical childhood, fantasy wedding and perfect marriage, seems to accompany the indication of a royal, but yet this was not the case for Diana. Ever since she was eight, her parents had been divorced and little Diana just “longed for the love of a united home” (Wright). Her school grades were not up to par, “an academically below-average student” (Princess Diana Biography Biography) and her family life was in shackles, so later becoming a princess and huge icon was such a powerful message for those with rough starts; this was not the first stereotype she would break. From straightforwardly addressing tough, international medical issues to her torn personal life, the people sympathized with her, because she was such real, true and honest princess. When Diana entered into the public view by her marriage to Charles, her life appeared to be perfect especially when followed by two, healthy sons, William and Harry, but...
"This lady, who was long, lean and loosely put together, was clad in raiment intricately looped and fringed, with plaids and stripes and bands of plain color disposed in a design to which the clue seemed missing. Her hair, which had tried to turn white and only succeeded in fading, was surmounted by a Spanish comb and black lace scarf, and silk mittens, visibly darned, covered rheumatic hands." (129)
The early nineteenth century which was in the Regency Era consisted of harsh judgments towards what was believed to be a “wealthy” look and what was considered to be “proper.” In Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the clothing is more than just a fashion statement, it determines how they are perceived and their overall rank and social class in society. Therefore, fashion represents the importance of self appearance during that time.
The evolution of clothing has been drastically changed through the course of history, from the style to how they’re made. Women and men’s clothing changed at different rates. The way clothes are made reflect the style. Clothing always has been an important aspect of one’s culture as well as a representation of a time period. Overtime clothing has changed just as the people it clothes.
In relation to my work, the rationing of clothes during the second world war influenced the fashion of the working-class women as it became harder to find materials to make outfits, which then bought on the problem of too little material. The women working in the factories wore simple clothings such as overalls for the mere fact that it was comfortable, cheap, quick and easy to wear. The women carried large appropriate handbags to keep tools, rationing books and their essentials.
Victorian Era was roughly throughout 1830’s to 1900’s while Queen Victoria’s ruling, it made status of women often seen as an illustration of the striking inconsistency between the United Kingdom's national power and wealth. The period saw many variations in fashion, including in clothing, architecture, literature, and visual arts. Women's clothing proceeded with trends that emphasised elaborate dresses, skirts around wide volume created by the use of layered material. At the beginning of the Victorian Era, clothing was increasingly factory-made and every so often sold in vast, fixed price department stores. Custom sewing and household sewing were still significant, but were refused. New machinery and materials developed clothing in plenty
Working at her father’s clothing shop, she became very knowledgeable about expensive textiles and embellishments, which were captured in her works later in career. She was able to capture the beauty and lavishness of fabrics in portraits of aristocratic women.
To me this signifies that the people in the royal family were not especially beautiful in looks, but the way that they dressed was
The Chronicle of Western Fashion: From Ancient times to the Present Day.
But in the time of Marie Antoinette, this was rather sensical. To serve the queen was a very high honor, and the task would only fall unto the individual with the highest ranking.The movie does a highly accurate representation of this, after the queen waking up, is to be put into a different gown to wear after sleeping. Her nightgown is taken off, and about to put a different one on, a new woman, of higher rank, enters the room. The woman currently about to put Marie into her new gown, of lower rank, steps back from Marie, to greet the new woman, and hand the gown to the higher rank woman to dress Marie. This change happens several times, as women of higher and higher rank continue to enter. Leaving Marie shivering, naked, as the new gown is passed around the room to different women. Finally the Marie gets the gown, after many different swaps, leaving her to say “ This is ridiculous”. That scene showed that the rituals were very important to the current system, even if the queen herself thought them to be unreasonable and unnecessary.
Thomas, Pauline W. "The Victorian EraFashion History." Victorian Era 1837-1901 Victorian Fashion History, Costume Social History. Fashion-Era.com, 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. .
Early 19th century clothing for women was designed for style and beauty, sadly, this left practicality, safety and comfort completely out of the picture. Corsets, which were worn to slim the waist and lift the chest, presented many serious health concerns for women. These vices that women wore on their bodies increased their blood pressure and made breathing very difficult. Fainting was so commonplace that a fainting couch was designed and present in most households Prolonged wearing of corsets weakened back and stomach muscles to the point that some women, who had worn corsets for many years, struggled to hold themselves upright without them. If cinched to tightly, they had the power to bruise the internal organs and push them out of alignment, causing sever health issues. (Berkowe)
middle of paper ... ... It also analyzed the influences of modern dresses. As Palmer and Clark (2005) mentioned earlier, both decades are the classic era in fashion history.