Dress of the Week: Redingote

April is here, but it's still a bit nippy outside. Spring is reluctant to start and a young lady cannot do better than this lovely redingote.

Redingote, England, 1810s 

Description:
Red wool flannel "redingote" with braid and wrapped buttons in Brandenburg style; bag of beige velvet, hand-painted with floral and scenic motif, chain strap; muff and palatine of swans-down.

A military style, "redingote". The full-length, wool coat protected women wearing thin, muslin dresses from the intense cold of European winters. The Brandenburg style, expressed in the wrapped buttons and braid that decorate the front opening, gained inspiration from the "à la Hussarde" worn by Napoleon's armed forces, and was often used on the high-waisted redingote. The coat worn for horseback-riding by English aristocrats came to be used as a cold proof overcoat and a rain-proof hunting coat in France around 1725. Later, this kind of coat was used by the army as well. What was called a "riding coat" in English became in French a "redingote", and was an item worn widely around the end of the eighteenth century. At the time women's clothing was strongly influenced by the functional and practical style of men's and military wear.

Source: Image and description from The Kyoto Costume Institute 

The lovely red redingote reminds me of this fashion print from Wiener Modenzeitung, 1917.  

Trimmed to mimic the epaulets and the Hungarian passementerie from the uniforms of hussars. The wrists are trimmed with fur and eight levels of button, cord, and fringe trim. The lady carries a piece of sheet music in her right hand. Her bonnet is decorated with a large rose and assorted flowers. I would love to wear something like this! Though those pretty little shoes seem too flimsy for the dirt and snow of early April.  

Waiting for Inspiration to Hit Me

As I am currently in the grips of Easter ennui, I cannot do anything more productive than consume food and stare at my Tumblr feed. But I do have a few really fun posts I'm working on. So for now I leave you with this picture of fabulous cakes.

Enjoy!  

Women of the Future Card Collection 1902

Women's History Month continues. And today we will go back in time to see what men of the past thought about women of the future.

Beginning of the 20th century saw a rapid and dramatic change in women's position in society. More opportunities were open to them in terms of employment, education, sport and recreational activities. Turn of the century was a good time to speculate about what the future may bring, and many forward-thinking individuals as well as satirists and wits turned their thoughts to what a woman of the future would look like.

This collection of cards from 1902 may not offer very practical work attire for the young ladies of the future, yet the they seem to take to these professions with gusto and self-assurance. I may add that I would like to be borrow that duck hat from the lady journalist.

Women's Suffrage - A Pop Tribute

Happy belated Women's Day! As it is Woman's History Month, here is a tribute to some great ladies who worked hard, endured taunts, imprisonment and all sorts of general nastiness to get the vote!  

Though, I do wonder about how willingly they went back to baking, cleaning, washing and caring for children after they got the vote. I mean, you ladies are on a roll, isn't this a good time to ask for equal pay, education and better work opportunities? 

New Pictures from Mirror, Mirror

Here are some new pictures from the technicolor madness of Mirror, Mirror - a zany retelling of the Snow White story. And they are just as colorful as you would expect.

I love these costumes! They make me want to run to the sewing machine and start making something equally gorgeous. I think my absolute favorite is Snow White's yellow and pink embroidered dress with huge puffy sleeves. I adore embroidery and would love to make something similar.