I can't remember when I first heard about the Swiss Waist, Fashionable Reader. From my personal collection Popular in the 1860s this was a boned belt, with at least one peak (either up or down). It usually laced like a corset, only up the front, sometimes is was exactly corset-like with a busk up the front and laces up the back. The Swiss Waist was worn in addition to the foundation corset. It is, so far as I can determine historically, the only corset-like garment that was worn on the…

The six-part miniseries The Essex Serpent (2022) on Apple TV+ is based on a novel by Sarah Perry, and I rather wish I’d read the book instead of slogging through all six hours. It’s not…

Embroidered dress with belt, designed, worked and owned by Daisy Anderson (Daisy Agnes McGlashan).

Tea Gown on The John Bright Collection

Maternity or laying-in gown of teal cotton with ribbon work embroidery on center front of dress and continuing along bottom front hemline. Embroidery of green and brown stems with leaves, and ribbon work daisies and flowers with off-white petals. Mandarin collar and concealed button and snap closure at center front bodice. Two panels at right and left yoke with matching embroidery are unattached at bottom and conceal pleats that are along the collar line. Long, fitted sleeves with 1" vent at…

Woman's aesthetic or reform dress and bodice in wool with a ribbed weave, Great Britain, 1892-1895

Well, I appear to be on a theme roll, because once again I’ve picked a dress with front view vs back view. This one is quite intentional though: it’s a tea gown with a specific over-robe effect. Last Week: an early 1860s dress in blue floral silk Last week’s dress was the opposite of the week before’s. A fortnight ago you liked the back view but not the front, last week you loved the front, but if you had any quibbles it was that you thought the additional back tails were awkward and…

Tea gown of silk velvet, embroidered with coloured silks, England, 1895-1900

Embroidered velvet coat with silks, satin and machine-made lace, made and retailed by Marshall and Snelgrove, England, 1895-1900. The coat is similar to photographs in the Worth archive and it is possible that it is a licenced design from Worth or a similar couture house.