copper velvet dress, hat, shoes and muff set - group term?

Pinkcoke

Pinkcoke

Alumni
What would you call this matching set comprising of a long dress, hat, shoes, & muff/ hand warmer?

The dress is pinned to the mannequin at the shoulders and hips as the fixed waist seam is too small to get over the shoulders (though it's not all that small, I can fit into it however there's no one to take my picture at the moment!). It has tubular shaped shoulder pads which I've not seen before, seams look hand bound with blanket stitching as does the hem, old style fabric shank covered buttons all the way down the back with elastic/cord loops, 3/4 length sleeves gathered at the inside elbow, a beautifully pleated and bustle style skirt at the back I'm afraid the picture isn't good enough to show.

The hat is a mystery to me, I haven't found a position on the head it looks right on, possibly because it needs a small head to fill the crown first... it has a elastic strap so I'm thinking it either goes quite far back on the head at a 45degree sort of angle, or just on top with the gathered panel hanging down the back of the head. It came with these two sweet maching hat pins stuck through the side which came in very useful when I need to pin the dress on the mannequin!

The shoes are clearly a custom order and haven't been worn more than 3 times I'd say, I haven't seen that shape of mary jane strap before, it looks like a space for some sort of embellishment, but there's never been anything there.

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Jonathan is right, I am not familiar with what you are describing, we need photos to help us, to help you.

You could simply call it an ensemble. In Victorian times they often used the term "toilette" but it did not all have to be exact matching items.

There are many internet sites now with Edwardian fashions if you just Google it you get lots of leads. As far as getting a good range of the styles of the period from 1900 to 1910, it has taken me half a lifetime to learn all that (there was no internet or Google back when I started out) , so there is not going to be 1 place you can go to get a real sense of all the extremes of styles in that period. You just have to keep looking, reading and learning at every opportunity. Now with the internet you have a great place to research, and find much of what you need.

We would LOVE to see a photo of this ensemble/outfit.
 
I recently bought a skirt that had a dry cleaning receipt from 1968 attached - there were the usual items, skirts, dresses but also an item for "costume". I wondered if it was a reference to an evening dress or gown? I haven't heard the term used in that context before.

Certainly when I started studying the history of dress, it was generally called the history of costume but nowadays we use the term costume to refer to theatrical or fancy dress but it's clear that in the past it had a slightly different meaning.
 
The term "costume" as used in a fashion history context, while correct as a word for either an entire outfit or part of it, would not imply all matching items. She wants a term for an ensemble where everything is made of exact matching fabric, etc. At least that is what I think she is asking?
 
I am no specialist, but I would personally go with the term ensemble... Re. the word costume - this might interest you: the same word in German, Kostüm, can mean the same thing as in a theatrical costume or for fancy dress, but it also means a woman's suit...

Karin
 
Yes you're right Barbara, I was wondering if there was a better word than 'set' to describe an outfit of different garments/accessories that were obviously made to be worn together.
As yet I still can't rule out the possibility it is a later creation made to look like period costume. The dress has a fur trim at the neck I know was added later as the stitches go right through the neckline.
 
Hi,

It appears to be more of a stage, Halloween or theatrical costume outfit, and is not Edwardian. The dress looks like it could be a reworked 1930's evening gown (hard to tell from the photo), and perhaps the muff and hat were made from cut off fabric from the dress? Is the velvet on all the items the exact same velvet (not the color, but the fabric itself)? Can you show the inside of the hat?

The fur looks like rabbit, with ermine tails.
 
It looks to me like a middly-late 1930s winter bridesmaid's ensemble. I have seen similar before, although not usually with quite so many pieces. Its hard to date without seeing it mounted. The hat looks middly 30s to me, the shoes late... the dress somewhere in betwee. Maybe 1937ish?
 
I agree with Jonathan: mid to late '30s. I also think Barbara is right about the fur being an addition. If we could see the hat and shoes better, it would be easier to tell if they were originally a set, but I'm inclined to think they were.
 
I think Jonathan is onto something - a mid 1930s winter bridesmaid ensemble. The shirred 3/4 sleeves, the covered ball button back and the soft draping 'bustle' bits are all classic 30s. Steamed up, it should be quite pretty.

Hollis
 
Wow, what a great set.

The closest thing I've seen in an Edwardian ensemble is a matching hat, muff, and overcoat. I'm inclined to go with a mid-30s date for this as well; 30s fashions did a lot of mix-and-match from earlier styles. As far as a collective description ...I'm not sure that there is one; as Barbara mentioned, neither toilette or ensemble carries the connotation that everything matches. (Personally, I'd go with ensemble, but that's just me.)

Melody's right; costume was an accepted term for ladies wear up through, I want to say, the mid-20s. (Liberty of London used the term "Costume Department" for their ladies ready-to-wear section up to the early 60s.)

p.s. Pinkcoke, I have a ton of site links saved from my own research. If you want, you can drop me a message, and I'll compile a list of the most generally useful ones for you.
 
Hello apologies it took me ages to get these photos up, my internet went down four days ago and Virgin Media are still not interested in fixing it...grr

Anyway I'd love to know what you think with these new pictures (in my first post). Overall I'm now heading towards thinking this set is from the 40's, mainly due to the shoulder pads, waterfall skirt and curved shape of the shoe soles. Does anyone know of shoulder pads in the 30's? possibly this is an earlier style, with the unusal shape.

P.S. is there any way for a member to edit the thread title? I really wish this function was available under the edit function.
 
Yes, shoulder pads came in during the '30s - originally they were used at the top of a puffed sleeve, to hold the sleeve out, and yours look like that is their function, rather than building up the shoulder line as they did in the '40s.
 
Ah thank you Nicole, I'd never heard that before but it's very useful to know!
Quite frankly I'm amazed it's this old, it's in perfect condition.

Just think, if this is what the bridesmaid had, what was the bride wearing?!
 
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