Late Victorian Fancy Dress: The Devonshire House Ball in 1897

The Devonshire House Costume Ball of 1897 was one of the most anticipated social events of 1897. To stress the importance of th magnificent affair, the London Photographic Firm Lafayette was invited to take studio-style photographs of the guests in their costumes, which ranged from mythical goddesses, figures from paintings, and historical kings and queens.

The Duke of York, later King George V (1865-1936), as “The Queen’s Champion” and the Duchess of York, later Queen Mary (1867-1953)  as “a Lady at the Court of Marguerite de Valois” at the Devonshire House Fancy Dress Ball, 1897 via

Frances Evelyn (Daisy), the countess of Warwick, chose Marie Antoinette as her costume for the elegant and highly anticipated evening. The costume, made by Worth of Paris, was studded with real diamonds and used both gold and antique lace via

Lady Randolph Churchill (1854-1921), née Jennie Jerome in a Worth Parisian Costume, as Empress Theodora, while attending the Devonshire House Ball, 1897 via

Consuelo Marlborough (née Vanderbilt), dressed for the Devonshire House Ball, 1897 via

Mary Teresa (‘Daisy’) (Cornwallis-West), Princess of Pless dressed as Queen of Sheba for the Devonshire House Ball via

Miss Goelet as Scheherazade via

The ethereal beauty of Mrs J Graham Menzies in the role of Titania, Queen of the Fairies via

Vintage American Fashion Lithographs by Mme. Demorest (1880s)

Ellen Louise Demorest (1824 – 1898) was a US fashion arbiter. She was a successful milliner, widely credited for inventing mass-produced tissue-paper dressmaking patterns.

With her husband, William Jennings Demorest, she established a company to sell the patterns, which were adaptations of the latest French fashions, and a magazine to promote them (1860).

Her dressmaking patterns made French styles accessible to ordinary women, thus greatly influencing US fashion.

Fashion lithograph from Mme. Demorest’s reliable patterns from the 1880’s. The Print shows 3 young women in daytime fashion of the day via

Fashion lithograph from Mme. Demorest’s reliable patterns, circa 1880-1890’s. It shows a front and back view of the model gervaise basque – gwendoline skirt with adjustable train via

Fashion lithograph from Mme. Demorest’s reliable patterns, circa 1880-1890’s. It depicts 3 children in fashion of the day via

Two Well-dressed Victorian Couples by Pierre-Louis Pierson (1870s)

Pierre-Louis Pierson, Young Couple (Circle of Duc d’Aumale), 1870s, France via

Pierre-Louis Pierson, Military Officer and Woman (Circle of Duc d’Aumale), 1870s, France via

Costumes de Théâtre by Redfern (1908)

Exposition à l’Hôtel des Modes. Photograph in Les Modes : Revue mensuelle illustrée des arts décoratifs appliqués à la femme, 1908 via

Exposition à l’Hôtel des Modes. Photograph in Les Modes : Revue mensuelle illustrée des arts décoratifs appliqués à la femme , 1908 via

Fashion at Longchamp 1912 by Seeberger Frères

Seeberger Frères (Jules Louis, Henri) – Fashion at the Longchamp Racetrack, France 1912 via

Seeberger Frères (Jules Louis, Henri) – Fashion at the Longchamp Racetrack, France 1912 via

Seeberger Frères (Jules Louis, Henri) – Fashion at the Longchamp Racetrack, France 1912 via

A Collection of Turn of the Century Fashion Photographs

Otto Sarony, Portrait of Evelyn Nesbit, 1900s via

Tightlaced Gibson Girl, Camille Clifford, showing her ideal La Belle Époque figure via

Edwardian lady wearing Redfern, who among other things popularised high-waisted Grecian style dresses after 1908 via

Dress for the races by J. Dukes, photo by Reutlinger, Les Modes, May 1912 via

A fashionable woman at the races in 1909. Scanned from the book “The Mechanical Smile” by Caroline Evans via

Gorgeous Edwardian dresses, hats and parasols, 1906. Belle epoque fashion via

Actress Lily Elsie in an Ewdardian gown via

Raoul Dufy was one of the great innovators of 20th century textile design here is an example on velvet for a Paul Poiret cape 1911 via

Woman wearing French fashion. ca. 1905 via

Fashion, ca. 1914 via

Antique photo postcard of Edwardian beauty with a large hat and a snowfox stole around her shoulders via

Women’s Hats at the Turn of the Century

Superb Vintage Photos of Beautiful Edwardian Era Hairstyles

Edwardian hairstyles were largely dictated by the millinery trade. The hairstyles had a soft, fluffy and loose fluidity about them. Hair was dressed off the face, with the exception of a fringe, and hairstyles rarely had a parting.

The defining Edwardian hairstyle for women was the pompadour. After the Pompadour´s initial popularity among fashionable women in the 18th century, it was revived as part of the Gibson Girl look in the 1890s and continued to be in vogue until World War I.

Other hairstyles were fx. the Low Pompadour (for everyday), Hat Pin Hairstyles (for the late Edwardian Cartwheel hat), the Gibson Tuck, the Side-Swirl (the style allowed women to easier wear the picture hats), the bouffant and the chignon. Usually the full Pompadour hairstyle was kept for special occasions. In the early part of the Edwardian era it was accompanied by the “picture” hat; hats that were worn high on the head and heavily decorated with fabric, feathers or imitation flowers or fruit.

The  Pompadour hairstyle could be dressed in all manner of styles, but the basic concept is hair swept upwards from the face and worn high over the forehead, and sometimes upswept around the sides and back as well. The style could feature soft coils and fuzzy curled fringes. It could be decorated with a bun, chignon or knot, depending on what was in vogue at the time and the occasion. Chignons tended to sit low on the nape, or at the back of the head. A bun could also be situated on the crown. A knot is hair that is twisted to form a rope, and then coiled to form a shape. The different shapes had names, for example the Apollo Kno, the Psyche Knot and the Grecian Knot. A topknot sits high on the head.

Evelyn Nesbit, who posed for illustrator Charles Dana Gibson, and became known as the first “Gibson Girl.” Gibson’s drawings of women represented the feminin ideal of the time via

The Soft Pompadour and Psyche Knot. From Girls Own Paper and Woman’s magazine, 1911 via

Gibson Girls with Pompadour hair via

After the Victorian era hair got bigger and bigger via

Actress Gabrielle Ray´s hairstyle fits her large decorated hat, 1906 via

Edwardian lady with big frizzy hair via

Miss Ethel Oliver with big Edwardian hair via

Nancy Astor with a knot, 1908 via

Debutantes (1899)

Debutantes Lady Blanche Ruth Brooke Tatton Grieve and Mrs. Bouchier, (née Flora Bathurst Greive), 1899.

The Most Brilliant Victorian Wedding Gowns

 Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840; this is a middle aged Victoria and Albert who recreate their wedding day. Queen Victoria chose to marry in a white silk satin gown featuring Honiton lace, an unusual color choice for bridal gowns at the time; she started the white wedding gown tradition that remains today.

1858 photo of princess royal victorias wedding dress. She was the oldest daughter of queen Victoria. She married Frederick, Crown Prince of Germany and Prussia later Frederick III, German Emperor and King of Prussia (1831–1888); 4 sons, 4 daughters (including Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia and Sophia, Queen of Greece)

1863 Princess Alexandra Of Denmark, later Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India as the wife of King-Emperor Edward VII.

Princess Louise (1848-1939) in her wedding dress. Married 1871, John Douglas Sutherland Campbell (1845–1914), Marquess of Lorne, later 9th Duke of Argyll.

Princess Helena (1846-1923) in her wedding dress. Married 1866, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (1831–1917); 4 sons (1 still-born), 2 daughters.

1885 Princess Beatrice, the fifth daughter and youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Married 1885, Prince Henry of Battenberg (1858–1896); 3 sons, 1 daughter (Victoria Eugenie, Queen of Spain).

Victoria of Baden. She married in Karlsruhe on 20 September 1881 Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden and Norway, the son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway and Sofia of Nassau.

Annie Chinery. The daughter of Dr Edward Chinery from Lymington, married the photographer Julia Cameron’s son Ewen in 1869

Bride from the 1850s

American bride

Baroness Christine von Linden (1879-1969). She married diplomat and adventurer Cecil Gosling  (1870-1943) on the 13th of May 1898. They married in London. She was the only daughter of Baron Adhémar Rudolph Caesar Conradin von Linden from Germany and Helene Euphrosyne Casavetti from London.

Bride getting dressed, 1890s