19th Century Austrian Fashion Plates via BibliOdyssey
Saturday, December 19, 2009
You Madam, Are Out Of Date
Decadent ruffles, exquisite tussie-mussies, and classic coifs? Just some very vintage fashion illustrations found on BibliOdyssey. Despite my misgivings about all the restrictions in these forms of clothes require, there is a certain elegance to the style and the decadence is delightful. 19th Century Austrian Fashion Plates via BibliOdyssey
19th Century Austrian Fashion Plates via BibliOdyssey
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74 comments:
yes, very elegant gowns, although probably very uncomfortable!
beautiful illustrations, I would frame them... it's amazing how fashion has changed ... I have just made a post on my blog with vintage illustrations as well, of an Italian designer of 60 years, I have to say that whatever is the era, from the past there always to learn much
...I mean a designer from the 60s, not of 60 years old, sorry but the automatic translation does not always work!
gorgeous dresses and ruffles, love it.
lovelove,
http://marissaexplains.blogspot.com
I crave for big dresses like that most days! I think wearing such lovely dresses would be worth the discomfort. Saying that I havn't experienced it myself and i certainly would want to lose a rib or two. Thanks for teaching me something new today :)
i have quite a thing for the 19th century and i think those dresses were beautiful, although it must have been very hard to sit in them with all those layers and the crinolines
I can see myself in one now, sitting down and my desk for work then, poof petticoat in my face! Or at any given moment of excitement I'd faint from lack of oxygen due to my corset!
Stunning. Gorgeous. Amazing.
These are very lovely! There definitely was a certain elegance to styles in the 1800s. Except for the whole corset thing, I rather liked the styles.
you're right, these make me very conflicted. on the one hand, i am a feminist, and i hate the victorian era for its repressive nature. on the other hand, i am a hopeless romantic, and i love these styles. they're just so pretty! i took these photos at an old dressmaker's (she makes things along these styles by hand!)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fauxnaif/4179935220/in/set-72157622863219539/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fauxnaif/4179935316/in/set-72157622863219539/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fauxnaif/4179937220/in/set-72157622863219539/
I'm currently writing a thesis paper about the fashion from the late 19th century...now possible using these photos as some of my photo sources? YES.
So beautiful.
-Sigh- I do love the 19th century =) I think my favorite era, clothing wise though, is the Regency era, nearer to the earlier 19th century. It was a small moment when corsets were not so much in style, and the waists were empire. (Around Austen's era)
Oh Rebecca why????? You've got the Staten Island dress OMG!! I wanted it so badly but it went sold out.... you look lovely in it (L)
my crazy dream is that some day this fashion will back.
Love the pictures. Great fashion for small people guess they didn't have fat people back then...lol
Enjoy the blog!
www.frivolousidlepleasures.blogspot.com
I wish there were still excuses to wear dresses like this today! They're so pretty! The closest I've ever come to wearing a gown like this was my prom dress. It was a huge, poofy ballgown. But it still wasn't as extravagent as these!
http://playingdressupwithkellie.blogspot.com/
Pictures of clothings past...really, though, why can't we dress this way anymore? Who did a full skirt and fitted bodice ever hurt to be excluded from fashion future? In any case, great article, and great blog.
Love,
Rebecca, Maddy, and Alec
La Société de Mode | The Fashion Society
www.lasocietedemode.com
I love looking at these old fashion prints too. There is a museum in Paris (musee les decoratifs) which apparently holds many of these in their collection. Unfortunately when I went to visit last year, that particular area was closed!
Gorgeous, but if I were to have ribs removed, I think I would wear something slinkier.
these are so beautiful! love your blog. xx
myfavoritecolourisshiny.blogspot.com
i love these prints. thanks for sharing!
The fashion really was so decadent. The prints are beautiful.
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These details are great. I can't imagine how uncomfortable all those layers and corsets must have been though. I do find it inspirational for my girliness nonetheless.
They are such beauiful dresses, but I think I would never feel comfortable using one of these, I really admire these women because of the time they spend getting ready every single day even if they had nowhere to go. It's pretty amazing.Beautiful pictures.
xo!
I am actually watching Gone With the Wind just now, and these prints are so like the costumes from the film. They are lovely.
I think they just laced them up tight and used huge hoops to make the laced waist look smaller. I feel like people wouldn't have survived such major surgery as rib removal would seem to be. No modern medications. Think of the pain and risk of infection, even now.
although i'm pretty sure i'd never wear any of those dresses (they'd get in the way of everything!) i have to admit the detailing on the skirts and the bodices are stunning. i especially love the cape one of the girls is wearing.
All the images looks great, thanks for sharing ;)
There is a giveaway on my blog:
http://clobyclau.blogspot.com/
Saludos,
Clau!
gorgeous images. i love 18th century fashion. i wish we could all wonder around in this style today! but you know...said problems with breathing etc may be an issue :/
i wish i was in a time and state of mind to put so much effort and get so much joy from clothing. it seems so charming!! i love these illustrations. they are beautiful.
http://girlintheloft.blogspot.com
Gorgeous drawings! I love love such an era and to go back in time to their time and experience it all:)
I use to always think about living in a time where women dressed like this! It would be so glamourous and you'd feel so lady-like, but then I remember the super tight corsets..
hey rebecca,
the pictures are rather lovely, but on a more macabre note, if you google image "corset skeleton" there's a link (http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~posture/CorsetWebpage.html) that talks about posture theory and the internal damage caused by corsets. Also, it mentions the debate about links between corsetry, women's "delicate" natures (i.e. fainting at bad news, etc.) and psychotherapy. Pretty intense stuff, in case you're interested.
~M
This obviously remind me to Sisi the Empress, with those lovely dress I dreamed about whe I was a little girl! Yaw! Did you dreamed with things like this??
I'm glad you liked my yellow dress, is so gorgeous!! <3!!
i echo your love for these dresses...obviously we are not speaking of retraining women...but rather returning to the pastel prints and big princess style gowns...
i always thought they were rather romantic :)
Wow! I love all the details. They really paid so much attention to the little details back then.
yeah ive heard about that, they really play out the beauty is pain rule. i guess when youre in that society, where women doesnt really have a voice and beauty is an advantage, its kind of not so crazy.
However i cant help but just admire the amount of work thats put on every single dress. its mind boggling sometimes how their creativity could surpass the current's fashion. every single ruffle, and every single mismatched colours are put so beautifully.
I wear dresses like that to do Re-enacting the American Civil War. They are very heavy, and actually hard to make, too. Women wore corsets in the 1800's, and their waists were almost never as little as the pictures in the magazines then. It wasn't until the late 1800s and early, early 1900s that they did drastic measures (like removing a rib) to achieve slimness.
I don't know about you, but I just wish men could go back to wearing breeches and tricorn hats!
Whan an exquisite drawings. They are magical!
I really like your blog:)
I'm following you
I used to be absolutely obsessed with Victorian fashions. So much so that I wanted that to be the style for my wedding dress when I got married. There is still something so wonderfull about overdressing in these gowns. I wish I could go back for just one night to the 19th century.
Beautiful! Isn't it strange to think that this is the way all women used to dress on the daily? And now we have to put up with velour sweat suits and socks with sandals. Oh, how things change.
I remember reading at school what happened to their waists. It's rather disturbing because their organs would get all squished together and the women would experience all sorts of problems. Although I do think that the dresses are absolutely gorgeous, but I'm really glad I don't live back then.
Gorgeous illustration, although very uncomfortable. Do you think they're wearing Converse sneakers under there?! ;)
OMG!
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great images, I have always wanted to wear a dress like that, just once. :)
I love those dresses and all the ruffles but women definitely had to suffer for the sake of fashion back then.
looks like layering or peplum like fashion is not something new! awsome post! love it!!!
Oh WOW these illustrations are so beautiful! The colours are lovely <3
I could and also completely could not imagine living in that era. Before I die I hope for the opportunity to wear a garment like one of these.
Oh my gosh I'm such a sucker for these kinds of illustrations, so beautiful!!
These are gorgeous imageries! Thank you for sharing!
-Coco From Our Paper Moon
Oh my gosh I looove freaks and geeks. Vintage James Franco is always a good thing haha.
great images!!! i love the details of the clothing.
p.s- so glad you like "frida"! can't wait to see a pic!!
There is something so appealing about Victorian fashion.
http://antiquatedtreasures.blogspot.com
I've always been so inspired by illustrations from the 19th century. These ones remind me of "Gone With the Wind"!
Yes, I have seen "The Company"! It was a very long time ago but I loved it.
Also-- you should check out the trailer for "La Danse". It looks beautiful.
like thiebaud worthy cakes in dress form! looking at these I can't even begin to imagine how fashion evolved into todays trends
-indigo
Gorgeous! Sometimes, I wish people still dressed like that, but then I realise the impracticalities. However, that stop those dresses from being beautiful!
cute illustrations :)
leen
I love these dresses. It must have been so nice always looking so perfectly elegant
xx
Nathalie
The gowns are gorgeous indeed. The illustrations are so whimsical and magical, it's as if the period never ended and you can savor the feel of the era.
Lovely post.
xo
Sophie
hah a picture of your sister with sunburn? That does sound very hilarious to me ;)
Victorian fashion in my personal opinion is the best because like you said, it shows their elegancy like they really did cherish their fashion purposes
Hope to speak to you again sooooon!
xxxxxx
this takes vintage dresses to a whole other level! I love admiring these kinds of fashion... probably one of the strong reasons why I love period movies.
Wow, these are gorgeous! Love them!
I always wonder how on earth they kept such floor sweeping gowns clean?
If you think about it, removing a rib is quite a drastic measure- this was something maybe one in oh, a million women considered. In my work towards an MA I did find one or two mentions of this, but for the most part, women did not have ribs removed. As one poster above mentioned, this would have been far too dangerous (though medical advances weren't as bad as people imagine).
Women wore some sort for corset all the way up to the 50s (hello girdle!) and so NOT wearing one is actually a newish thing! I can say from my own experiences that while the mid 19th century corsets were not something I would like to wear while washing the dishes, they were something women could live with in some way or another- remember that these women were not of the working class and their activities were very different than ours. There was also a lot of 19th century reformers who declared to be against the corset. Advertisements and illustrations illustrate the ideal, not the norm. Kind of like looking at Kate Moss on the cover of Vogue- she certainly does not look like the "average" size 12 woman of today!
Cheers and thanks for sharing the very pretty illustrations!
yikes! I really hope that's not true [about the rib removal]. can you imagine what a "surgery" like that would have been like back then. not to mention the scars!!! :-/
None the less this is a really cool site!
The dry cleaning bill must've been horrendous!
Thank you for sharing. I loooove this style of dresses.
omg this site is awesome!! thanks for sharing!
xo
I know the silhouettes are designed to where movement was terribly restricted, but what a beautiful, exotic aesthetic this time period was. I think of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women when I see these images, and the process it took for a girl to get ready for a party, and the social class structure that scrutinized every detail.
I'm curious as to your source about people from this era having ribs removed? I can't imagine it likely- major surgery before the invention of antibiotics was obviously a risky undertaking. I find it very unlikely that women would have cosmetic surgery in that day in age.
@Rhia, I agree with what you and other commentors have said: it's highly unlikely. That's why I state "rumor has it;" as in, it is an enduring legend that is happened, though historians aren't in agreement. You can find evidence against it and arguments for it, but it does seem unlikely; yet the "rumor" persists. It's a rumor/legend/talk.
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