FRIDAY FASHION ILLUSTRATION: TWO FEMININE OUTFITS
Often a modern dress begins extremely well. From the neck to the waist the lines of the dress itself follow out with more or less completeness the lines of the figure; but the lower part of the costume becomes bell shaped and heavy, and breaks out into a series of harsh angles and coarse curves. Whereas if from the shoulders, and the shoulders only, each separate article were hung, there would be then no necessity for any artificial supports of the kind I have alluded to, and tight lacing could be done away with. If some support is considered necessary, as it often is, a broad woollen band, or band of elastic webbing, held up by shoulder straps, would be found quite sufficient.
So much on the cut of the dress, now for its decoration.
OSCAR WILDE WAS ALSO NOT IN FAVOUR OF MUCH DECORATION
The French milliner passes a lurid and lucrative existence in sewing on bows where there should be no bows, and flounces where there should be no flounces. But, alas! his industry is in vain. For all ready-made ornamentation merely makes a dress ugly to look at and cumbersome to wear.
OSCAR WILDE BELIEVED THAT THE BEAUTY OF DRESS SHOULD COME FROM THE FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
The beauty of dress, as the beauty of life, comes always from freedom. At every moment a dress should respond to the play of the girl who wears it, and exquisitely echo the melody of each movement and each gesture’s grace. Its loveliness is to be sought for in the delicate play of light and line in dainty rippling folds and not in the useless ugliness and ugly uselessness of a stiff and stereotyped decoration.
EVEN FOLDS SHOULD BE NATURAL AND NEVER SEWED ONTO A DRESS
It is true that in many of the latest Paris dresses which I have seen there seems to be some recognition of the value of folds. But unfortunately the folds are all artificially made and sewn down, and so their charm is entirely destroyed. For a fold in a dress is not a fact, an item to be entered in a bill, but a certain effect of light and shade which is only exquisite because it is evanescent. Indeed one might just as well paint a shadow on a dress as sew a fold down on one.
WILDE WAS ALSO PREOCCUPIED WITH SUSTAINBILITY OF CLOTHES
And the chief reason that a modern dress wears such a short time is that it cannot be smoothed out, as a dress should be, when it is laid aside in the wardrobe.
WILDE STATES THAT THERE'S TOO MUCH SHAPING IN A FASHIONABLE DRESS, MAKING IT PARTICULARLY UNAVAILABLE TO THE POOR
In fact in a fashionable dress there is far too much “shaping”; the very wealthy of course will not care, but it is worth while to remind those who are not millionaires that the more seams the more shabbiness.
ACCORDING TO WILDE, A WELL MADE DRESS SHOULD BE LAST AS MUCH AS A SHAWL
A well-made dress should last almost as long as a shawl, and if it is well made it does.
ACCORDING TO WILDE, A WELL MADE DRESS IS A SIMPLE DRESS
And what I mean by a well-made dress is a simple dress that hangs from the shoulders, that takes its shape from the figure and its folds from the movements of the girl who wears it, and what I mean by a badly made dress is an elaborate structure of heterogeneous materials, which having been first cut to pieces with the shears, and then sewn together by the machine, are ultimately so covered with frills and bows and flounces as to become execrable to look at, expensive to pay for, and absolutely useless to wear.
WILDE WAS AGAINST A DEFINITE STYLE AND IN FAVOUR OF SIMPLICITY
Well, these are the principles of Dress. And probably it will be said that all these principles might be carried out to perfection, and yet no definite style be the result. Quite so. With a definite style, in the sense of a historical style, we have nothing whatsoever to do.
WE SHOULD NOT REVIVE AN ANCIENT MODE OF APPEAL BECAUSE IT'S ANCIENT BUT RATHER LEARN FROM ITS FUNCTIONALITY
There must be no attempt to revive an ancient mode of apparel simply because it is ancient, or to turn life into that chaos of costume, the Fancy Dress Ball.
WE START FROM THE PROPORTION OF THE HUMAN FORM- MEANING WE SHOULD MAKE DRESSING THAT FOLLOW THE HUMAN FORM
We start, not from History, but from the proportions of the human form. Our aim is not archaeological accuracy, but the highest possible amount of freedom with the most equable distribution of warmth.
WILDE ALSO ADVOCATED FOR USING WOOL BECAUSE IT'S WARM
And the question of warmth brings me to my last point. It has sometimes been said to me, not by the Philistine merely but by artistic people who are really interested in the possibility of a beautiful dress, that the cold climate of Northern countries necessitates our wearing so many garments, one over the other, that it is quite impossible for dress to follow out or express the lines of the figure at all. This objection, however, which at first sight may seem to be a reasonable one, is in reality founded on a wrong idea, on the idea in fact, that the warmth of apparel depends on the number of garments worn. Now the weight of apparel depends very much on the number of garments worn, but the warmth of apparel depends entirely on the material of which those garments are made. And one of the chief errors in modern costume comes from the particular material which is always selected as the basis for dress. We have always used linen, whereas the proper material is wool. Wool, to begin with, is a non-conductor of heat. That means that in the summer the violent heat of the sun does not enter and scorch the body, and that the body in winter remains at its normal natural temperature, and does not waste its vital warmth on the air. Those of my readers who play lawn tennis and like out-door sports know that, if they wear a complete flannel suit, they are perfectly cool on the hottest day, and perfectly warm when the day is cold.
WILDE EVEN ADVOCATED THAT WOOL IS A HEALTHY CHOICE
All that I claim is that the same laws which are clearly recognized on the tennis ground, flannel being a woollen texture, should be recognized as being equally suitable for the dress of people who live in towns, and whose lives are often necessarily sedentary. There are many other qualities in wool, such as its being an absorber and distributor of moisture, with regard to which I would like to refer my readers to a little hand-book on “Health Culture,” by Dr. Jaeger the Professor of Physiology at Stuttgart.
WILDE QUOTES AN ARTICLE IN WHICH A DOCTOR SPEAKS ON THE SANINARY VALUES OF DIFFERENT COLOURS AND COLOURS
Dr. Jaeger does not enter into the question of form or beauty, at least when he does he hardly seems to me very successful, but on the sanitary values of different textures and colors he speaks of course with authority, and from a combination of the principles of science with the laws of art will come, I feel sure, the costume of the future.
....
WILDE CONCLUDES THAT BOTH THE SCIENCE AND ART SHOULD BE OUR TEACHER WHEN WE THINK OF DRESS
We find, then, that on the question of material Science and Art are one. And as regards the milliners’ method of dress I would like to make one last observation. Their whole system is not merely ugly but useless. It is of no avail that a stately lady pinches in her waist in order to look slight.
WILDE IS AGAINST TIGH LACING CORSETS AND ANYTHING THAT IS UNATURAL AS HE SEES BEAUTY AS A MATTER OF PROPORTION
For size is a question of proportion. And an unnaturally small waist merely makes the shoulders look abnormally broad and heavy.
WILDE WRITES AGAINST THE HIGH HEEL, STATING IT ROBS THE WEARER OF ADDITIONAL HEIGHT BY BENDING THE FIGURE
The high heel, again, by placing the foot at a sharp angle bends the figure forward, and thus so far from giving any additional height, robs it of at least an inch and a half. People who can’t stand straight must not imagine that they look tall. Nor does the wearing of a lofty headdress improve the matter. Its effect is merely to make the head disproportionately large. A dwarf three feet high with a hat of six cubits on his head will look a dwarf three feet high to the end. Indeed height is to be measured more by the position of the eyes and the shoulders than by anything else. And particular care should be taken not to make the head too large. Its perfect proportion is one-eighth of the whole figure...
FINALLY WILDE COMPLIMENTS THE WOMEN OF AMERICA, APPEALING TO THEIR COMMON SENSE
But I know that, irrespective of Congress, the women of America can carry any reform they like. And I feel certain that they will not continue much longer to encourage a style of dress which is founded on the idea that the human figure is deformed and requires the devices of the milliner to be made presentable. For have they not the most delicate and dainty hands and feet in the world? Have they not complexions like ivory stained with a rose-leaf? Are they not always in office in their own country, and do they not spread havoc through Europe? Appello, non ad Caesarem, sed ad Caesaris uxorem[i].
Originally published in the New-York Tribune, 19 April 1885.
[i] I appeal not to Caesar but to Caeasar’s wife.
Jerome K. Jerome
ON DRESS AND DEPORTMENT
They say — people who ought to be ashamed of themselves do — that the consciousness of being well dressed imparts a blissfulness to the human heart that religion is powerless to bestow. I am afraid these cynical persons are sometimes correct. I know that when I was a very young man (many, many years ago, as the story-books say) and wanted cheering up, I used to go and dress myself in all my best clothes.
When unpleasant sort of things happened and I felt crushed, I put on all my best clothes and went out. It brought back my vanishing self-esteem. In a glossy new hat and a pair of trousers with a fold down the front (carefully preserved by keeping them under the bed — I don’t mean on the floor, you know, but between the bed and the mattress), I felt I was somebody and that there were other washerwomen: ay, and even other girls to love, and who would perhaps appreciate a clever, good-looking young fellow. I didn’t care; that was my reckless way. I would make love to other maidens. I felt that in those clothes I could do it.
They have a wonderful deal to do with courting, clothes have. It is half the battle. At all events, the young man thinks so, and it generally takes him a couple of hours to get himself up for the occasion. His first half-hour is occupied in trying to decide whether to wear his light suit with a cane and drab billycock, or his black tails with a chimney-pot hat and his new umbrella. He is sure to be unfortunate in either decision. If he wears his light suit and takes the stick it comes on to rain, and he reaches the house in a damp and muddy condition and spends the evening trying to hide his boots. If, on the other hand, he decides in favour of the top hat and umbrella–nobody would ever dream of going out in a top hat without an umbrella; it would be like letting baby (bless it!) toddle out without its nurse. How I do hate a top hat! One lasts me a very long while, I can tell you. I only wear it when — well, never mind when I wear it. It lasts me a very long while. I’ve had my present one five years. It was rather old-fashioned last summer, but the shape has come round again now and I look quite stylish.
But to return to our young man and his courting. If he starts off with the top hat and umbrella the afternoon turns out fearfully hot, and the perspiration takes all the soap out of his moustache and converts the beautifully arranged curl over his forehead into a limp wisp resembling a lump of seaweed. The Fates are never favourable to the poor wretch. If he does by any chance reach the door in proper condition, she has gone out with her cousin and won’t be back till late.
How a young lover made ridiculous by the gawkiness of modern costume must envy the picturesque gallants of seventy years ago! Look at them (on the Christmas cards), with their curly hair and natty hats, their well-shaped legs encased in smalls, their dainty Hessian boots, their ruffling frills, their canes and dangling seals. No wonder the little maiden in the big poke-bonnet and the light-blue sash casts down her eyes and is completely won. Men could win hearts in clothes like that. But what can you expect from baggy trousers and a monkey jacket?
Clothes have more effect upon us than we imagine. Our deportment depends upon our dress. Make a man get into seedy, worn-out rags, and he will skulk along with his head hanging down, like a man going out to fetch his own supper beer. But deck out the same article in gorgeous raiment and fine linen, and he will strut down the main thoroughfare, swinging his cane and looking at the girls as perky as a bantam cock.
Clothes alter our very nature. A man could not help being fierce and daring with a plume in his bonnet, a dagger in his belt, and a lot of puffy white things all down his sleeves. But in an ulster he wants to get behind a lamp-post and call police.
I am quite ready to admit that you can find sterling merit, honest worth, deep affection, and all such like virtues of the roast-beef-and-plum-pudding school as much, and perhaps more, under broadcloth and tweed as ever existed beneath silk and velvet; but the spirit of that knightly chivalry that “rode a tilt for lady’s love” and “fought for lady’s smiles” needs the clatter of steel and the rustle of plumes to summon it from its grave between the dusty folds of tapestry and underneath the musty leaves of mouldering chronicles.
The world must be getting old, I think; it dresses so very soberly now. We have been through the infant period of humanity, when we used to run about with nothing on but a long, loose robe, and liked to have our feet bare. And then came the rough, barbaric age, the boyhood of our race. We didn’t care what we wore then, but thought it nice to tattoo ourselves all over, and we never did our hair. And after that the world grew into a young man and became foppish. It decked itself in flowing curls and scarlet doublets, and went courting, and bragging, and bouncing — making a brave show.
But all those merry, foolish days of youth are gone, and we are very sober, very solemn — and very stupid, some say — now. The world is a grave, middle-aged gentleman in this nineteenth century, and would be shocked to see itself with a bit of finery on. So it dresses in black coats and trousers, and black hats, and black boots, and, dear me, it is such a very respectable gentleman — to think it could ever have gone gadding about as a troubadour or a knight-errant, dressed in all those fancy colours! Ah, well! we are more sensible in this age.
Or at least we think ourselves so. It is a general theory nowadays that sense and dullness go together.
Goodness is another quality that always goes with blackness. Very good people indeed, you will notice, dress altogether in black, even to gloves and neckties, and they will probably take to black shirts before long. Medium goods indulge in light trousers on week-days, and some of them even go so far as to wear fancy waistcoats. On the other hand, people who care nothing for a future state go about in light suits; and there have been known wretches so abandoned as to wear a white hat. Such people, however, are never spoken of in genteel society, and perhaps I ought not to have referred to them here.
By the way, talking of light suits, have you ever noticed how people stare at you the first time you go out in a new light suit. They do not notice it so much afterward. The population of London have got accustomed to it by the third time you wear it. I say “you,” because I am not speaking from my own experience. I do not wear such things at all myself. As I said, only sinful people do so.
I wish, though, it were not so, and that one could be good, and respectable, and sensible without making one’s self a guy. I look in the glass sometimes at my two long, cylindrical bags (so picturesquely rugged about the knees), my stand-up collar and billycock hat, and wonder what right I have to go about making God’s world hideous. Then wild and wicked thoughts come into my heart. I don’t want to be good and respectable. (I never can be sensible, I’m told; so that don’t matter.) I want to put on lavender-coloured tights, with red velvet breeches and a green doublet slashed with yellow; to have a light-blue silk cloak on my shoulder, and a black eagle’s plume waving from my hat, and a big sword, and a falcon, and a lance, and a prancing horse, so that I might go about and gladden the eyes of the people. Why should we all try to look like ants crawling over a dust-heap? Why shouldn’t we dress a little gaily? I am sure if we did we should be happier. True, it is a little thing, but we are a little race, and what is the use of our pretending otherwise and spoiling fun? Let philosophers get themselves up like old crows if they like. But let me be a butterfly.
Very young men think a good deal about clothes, but they don’t talk about them to each other. They would not find much encouragement. A fop is not a favourite with his own sex. Indeed, he gets a good deal more abuse from them than is necessary. His is a harmless failing and it soon wears out. Besides, a man who has no foppery at twenty will be a slatternly, dirty-collar, unbrushed-coat man at forty. A little foppishness in a young man is good; it is human. I like to see a young cock ruffle his feathers, stretch his neck, and crow as if the whole world belonged to him. I don’t like a modest, retiring man. Nobody does — not really, however much they may prate about modest worth and other things they do not understand.
In: Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, 1886 CITED FROM https://www.readingdesign.org/on-dress-and-deportment
Thank you for reading and visiting. Prints of my fashion illustrations can be ordered from Redbubble, for originals or other inquiries send me an email.
I'm linking this post with Nancy's FANCY FRIDAY LINKUP and there is no reason why you shouldn't join in the fun too!
Lindos bocetos y me gusto los look que luciste en especial el de la chaqueta roja. Ye mando un beso
ReplyDeletethank you
DeleteWhat lovely outfits and illustrations Ivana! I hope you have been doing well!
ReplyDeleteThank you Pilar
DeleteGreat drawing! Exactly this creation!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteOh, so nice to get dresses from you mum. Such a classic. Is it a wrap dress? Love the illustrations.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a wrap dress.
DeleteSuch a true classic dress. It doesn't go out of style! Lovely drawings. Wonderful creativity!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ellie
DeleteI love the draping of your black outfit, what skill you have to capture them so well. x
ReplyDeletethanks
DeleteI love that wrap dress and it's lovely that it came from your mother. Your illustrations are so beautiful, as always! I am in awe of your talent!
ReplyDeleteJulia x
https://www.thevelvetrunway.com/
Your wrap dress is very unique and I think you captured its draping very skillfully. I also love the tights in that outfit and how you styled your hair.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I am in awe of your amazing talent in creating these fashion illustrations. I love how you have included the creative process as well. xxx
As always I enjoyed scrolling through your beautiful illustrations. Thank you for sharing xx
ReplyDeleteElegant Duchess xx
https://www.elegantduchess.com/
Great style and lovely artwork :-D
ReplyDeleteBeautiful illustrations!;)
ReplyDeleteI really like how the water melds the colors together Ivana!! It's amazing how you do these so fast.
ReplyDeleteXOOX
Jodie
www.jtouchofstyle.com
I adore wrap dresses, they always look good. I think both illustraties are so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful illustrations as usual Ivana!
ReplyDeleteI love your style cause you're always trying to add something different to your proposals, even tho it feels like a very cohesive personal style ;)
My favorite is the one with the brown blazer, I'd say this one represents you the best with your books in the hand, loved that special touch in this illustration *_*
Pablo
Hey Fungi