The bride robe for 1906/07 in its exquisite beauty is such an enviable creation that a woman is tempted to forget the "ideal" she is looking for and solemnly pledge her vows at Hymen's altar.
The bride of the new year has the unique distinction of introducing a number of original ideas and of setting the pace with regard to the favored fabrics, their cut and design, which to a large extent predominate throughout the winter as the accepted mode. Then the Easter bride comes along with her novelties particularly suited to spring time.
Here are some general facts that will doubtless answer queries of the bride to be.
A Few Words To The Bride To Be.
The trains of the bridal gowns are moderate in length and round. The length of the skirt for a formal wedding is 72 inches; for the quiet weddings it varies according to the taste of the bride. When married in the going-away costume, the skirt should trail several inches on the floor as a reception gown, or at least "break" for several inches.
The skirts for the bridesmaids and maid of honor scarcely more than touch the floor, and some are even dancing length, for which purpose they are afterwards used. For the matron of honor, the mother of the bride or groom, the floor length is most often seen, that is lying on the floor for five inches and just touching in front. A skirt that sweeps the floor in front is most difficult to handle with any grace.
There is a great variety of designs for the bridal robe, but for women who can wear them those mostly favored are the semi-Empire effects and the Princess. The semi-Empire is usually a carefully-fitted Princess having a Watteau plait in the back, springing either from between the shoulders or starting a few inches above the waist. The gowns not fitted snugly around are, nevertheless, closely confined to the figure in the front and at the sides, and in back there is frequently a suspicion of the short-waited Empire. This effect is simulated by the actual fitting and by the raising of the girdle or scarf ends which spring from the center of the corsage and extends under the arms, terminating in the center of the back.
gowns for the bridesmaids and maid of honor are fashioned over these picturesque lines which go well with the fanciful headgear, sweeping Gainsboroughs or saucy Nepolean toques.
Draped surplice effects with the daintiest of chemisettes are especially graceful and produce lines generally becoming. Bretelles simulating a surplus effect of the bridal fabric, worn over a bodice of lace, is a pleasing edition of this style. Both high and round necks prevail for all wedding gowns. When girdles are worn they are well fitted, rather wide, and curve out over the figure in a graceful sweep, but few are pointed.
Bridal Fabrics and Garnitures
The favored materials for bridal gowns are Duchess satin, softer and more clinging than formerly, chiffon, chiffon cloth, liberty satin, satin meteor, messaline, peau de creape, crepe de chene, lace mounted over chiffon and silk.
For the bridesmaids and maid of honor all the soft silks, with messaline and meteor in shadow, check and plaids or self color, chiffon cloth, peau de crepe, silk muslin or mull fancy nets and pompadour chiffons in their most delectable and subtle colorings are most often employed.
Hand embroidery is shown to particular advantage on chiffon gowns. Silver tissue, lace and embroideries are among the elaborate garnitures. Under a lace robe was recently worn a slip of silver tissue with roses of same decorating the skirt and bodice. Lace is always to be depended upon, and the brides of the season are favoring various meshes, point laces, Duchess, Brussels, point de Venise, d'Alencon, Brussels, Princess and Limerick.
Above, three of five different dress designs for this 1927 bride's party, plus two identically dressed flower girls.
Just before the organ peals forth the wedding march, with what suppressed excitement the bridal party wait their cue to assemble! For just as vital as clothes, to the correct wedding, is the conventional order of the procession: bridesmaids come first, two by two; maid of honor next, and alone; the flower girls ahead of the bride, and the bride last on the arm of her nearest male relative.
Observe this bride's gown of ivory satin. It offers the classical simplicity demanded of the smart bride in 1927. It has a clever arrangement of two trains instead of the usual one. How lovely the bridal attendants look in their modish frocks, wide hats, and satin slippers! In vivid contrast to the purity of the bride's white, the bridesmaids may appear each in a different color-- a sort of rainbow processional.
This 1920s fashion plate shows the bridal veil long in back and short in front.
An occasion on which a Western woman is likely to wear a veil is on her white wedding day. Brides
once used to wear their hair flowing down their back at their wedding
to symbolize their virginity. Veils covering the hair and face became a
symbolic reference to the virginity of the bride thereafter. A bride may
wear the face veil through the ceremony. Then either her father lifts
the veil, presenting the bride to her groom, or the groom lifts the veil
to symbolically consummate the marriage. Brides may make use of the
veil to symbolize and emphasize their status of purity during their
wedding however, and if they do, the lifting of the veil may be
ceremonially recognized as the crowning event of the wedding, when the
beauty of the bride is finally revealed to the groom and the guests.
In modern weddings, the ceremony of removing a face veil after the
wedding to present the groom with the bride may not occur, since couples
may have entered into conjugal relations prior to the wedding and it
may also be considered sexist for the bride to have her face covered
whether or not the veil is a sign of virginity.
In Scandinavia, brides wear a veil usually under a traditional crown
but do not have their face covered (instead the veil is attached to and
hangs from the back).
During the 1920s, modern brides typically wore their hair short
and their veils short across the front of their face only.
The bridal costume is always one of deepest interest. Here is a model that is charming in the extreme. In the illustration satin is combined with lace and with chemisette of chiffon, and there is a bunch of orange blossoms arranged at the left of the corsage. The arrangement of the veil is distinctive and new.
The blouse is one of the very new ones, giving the surplice effect, and with a postillion back. It includes double sleeves as well as the fichu is made of lace flouncing. The skirt is simple chiffon for the chemisette and puffed under sleeves.
There are many brides-to-be who would delight in embroidering their own wedding veils, and the work will be found both easy and effective. To make a good-sized square veil, four yards of Brussels net are required. (newspaper, 1911)
The shawl-collar is sometimes preferred in full dress; either style is quite correct; these coats were made to custom fit perfectly around the neck and shoulders. In 1905 it was normal for many upper class men to have full dress suits, although these were expensive even for them.
Above are single and double breasted suits from 1905 that cost approximately $25 dollars at that time. The equivalent in our market today would be roughly $689.28, so these suits were worn by the wealthy. That being said, remember that people in 1900 something did not own many suits or dresses. They would perhaps purchase one or two new pieces every few years. People did not wear a different change of clothing daily, however, their clothing was made of excellent materials. The full dress suits above would have been made from a very fine wool and would have lasted for many years. A gentleman would have changed over his dress shirts, shoes, vests and ties frequently enough, but not his entire suit unless he was quite wealthy.
Below are the wedding day photos of my husband's family Diem. All three are pictures of sisters. They are great, great grand aunts to my children. Each of them had lovely, formal, Victorian era weddings.
Their mother, Louise (Orth) Kohlstock was the first postmistress of De Peres County, St. Louis. She married again after being widowed and had twin girls with a man (Joseph Diem). My children are the direct descendants of one of her twin daughters.
Emelia Diem married Mr. Christman. Emelia carried a fan instead of a bouquet in her ceremony. Both my husband's family and my own seemed to have married into families using the last name "Christman" several times during the late 1800s and early 1900s. This studio, wedding portrait was taken at "Marks & Brown" studio in St. Louis
Lena Diem married Mr. Schmidt and they had two sons Alwin and Frank. They were married in 1888. You can see Lena posing with lace gloves instead of a bouquet. This studio, wedding portrait was taken at "Whew" or "Whem" art studios on 1631 Franklin Avenue, St. Louis, MO.
Philippine Diem married Mr. Mild. They had four children: Clara, Nora, Edna and Erwin. Philippine carried a lace fan instead of a bouquet on her wedding day. Their wedding portrait was taken at "Genelli" at 923 Olive St. St. Louis, MO.
These wedding fashion plates come from ladies fashion catalogues published in the 1860s. Each plate has a bridal gown along with additional sample gowns of that same period in history. These gowns are typical of those brides marrying just after the Civil Ware in the United States. Click on the images to see much larger versions.
Ever since I was a small girl, people have occasionally spoken about this
particular dress at family reunions. It has been remarkably preserved and shows
little to no wear. My Aunt Carol tried it on in her youth and many lovely
pictures of her were taken while she modeled it.
My parents visited with Aunt Carol in 2006 and asked to take pictures of the gown.
It was, as you can see, a combination of gold and brown satin. I have often
wished that my Grandmother Nina's wedding dress had been preserved
as well. It was a grey and rose flapper dress that she had sewn by hand.
She told me that it was lost in a fire along with her wedding gifts. This gown
belonging to Grandmother Mary Elizabeth is a real family treasure.
Veils made from drifting tulle for spring and summer bride and her maids. Pictured above are:Far left top, delicately designed tiara studded with pearls and sequins worn atop the head. Below left, A flower-trimmed lace bonnet makes this enchanting head-dress. The lace of the bonnet is matched to the bodice-top and over-skirt of the bridal gown. Top right, a simple wreath of orange blossoms worn over a misty drift of white tulle veiling. Second from top right, a shaped cap of guipure lace encrusted with pearls has a face-framing veil. Bottom right, an unusual curved bride's maid's head-dress in pink satin, worn with a short tulle veil.
Now, it would not be fair to my women readers if I should fail to answer that anxious question: "What did she wear" Well, as in this day, she generally dressed in white. And thereby hangs a tale. From distant Saxon days even into the eighteenth century the poorer bride came to the wedding arrayed in a plain white robe as a public warning that since she brought nothing to the marriage, her husband was not responsible for her debts. Of course, however, brides soon began to add some little touch of color, and then what care in the choosing of it! Blue was for constancy and green for youth; but in some sections these might not be used because of feuds between families using these tints in their liveries. Yellow might not be worn, as it stood for jealousy; golden might not, as it meant avarice.
The Anglo-Saxon bride went to the wedding with her hair hanging loose, as a sign of freedom; but upon reaching her new home, immediately bound it up, as a sign of submission. In the days of Shakespeare the veil began to take the place of the flowing tresses; but this, however, was not original with the British; for centuries earlier the Roman and Hebrew brides had worn yellow veils, while the early Christians of southern Europe had enveloped both man and wife in one large cloth. Whatever was lacking, however, in gorgeousness of dress was compensated for among all nations by the profusion of flowers. Among the Greeks and Italians the myrtle and the olive were interwoven with white and purple flowers, the white symbolizing the girl's purity and the purple the Savior's blood; while among the British, roses, myrtle, and rosemary bedecked every bride.
''There's rosemary," said the bewildered Ophelia, "that's for remembrance; pray you, love, remember;" I and she might have added, "There's the rose; that 's for love and secrecy." There was long a beautiful custom for each guest to dip his sprig of rosemary into his cup of wine before drinking to the couple 's health. Then, too, the bride (if she were not a widow) and the groom wore garlands of wheat, as a symbol of plentifulness and increase; and in our own day, the bridal wreath of orange blossoms possesses the same meaning. Garlands, garlands everywhere, so many that often men had to be hired to carry them in the procession. Even the rejected suitors wore them the garland of gray willow that the Cavalier poet, Herrick, tells us about:
"A willow garland thou didst send,
Perfumed, last day, to me,
Which did but only this portend,
I was forsook by thee."
Besides the flowers, there was the true love-knot worn by both bride and groom — an ornament introduced by the Danes in the ninth century, and called by them the "trulofa," the troth. Three ornaments there were that only a bride was supposed to wear: a ring, for a pledge; a brooch, for virgin innocence; and a garland, as a crown of victory for temptations resisted. Ah, your early bride doubtless had as many worries over her trousseau as your modern lass.
If there was trouble in the actual marrying there was perhaps more in gaining the right to marry. It would seem that a medieval lover had to investigate his bride's pedigree for generations back. The Church of the ninth century forbade the marriage of first cousins; by 1100 second cousins were denied the right; and, later, unions of third cousins were illegal. A widow might not wed her husband's brother, cousin, or other near relative; a person might not marry his or her godfather or godmother; parents might not marry either godparent; a man and a woman having the same godparents might not unite; the godfather and the godmother of the same child might not; even any persons who had touched the babe at the christening became spiritual relatives and might never choose one another. A man had to be so careful about falling in love in that period!
And, then, there were the bans. What groom could ever be sure that some scamp might not hop up during their reading and blurt out some half-forgotten escapade? And yet these bans were absolutely necessary. Indeed, even after 1750 the Church in England was so strict about irregularmarriages that couples began to flee to the little green village of Gretna in the southeast corner of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, where preachers asked for neither bans nor license. Who has not heard of Gretna Green? It is said that many a post-boy on the border made a fortune in those wild races to the famous town. And yet, even if the couple stayed at home and had the bans read, the bride might not go to the church to defend herself; for if a maid heard her own bans read, all her children would be deaf and dumb!
I may not be a brave man; but it would seem to me that in those times I should have preferred to remain single and pay my bachelor tax. Carl Holiday, 1919
"Lingerie fit for a Bride.This charming film, narrated by Miss Ratherly
Stern was originally a promo for Newform wedding lingerie, made from
rayon silk - the synthetic fabric rage of the 1940's, and is a unique
example of the vintage wedding trousseau on film. The traditional trousseau, included bridal accessories,lingerie, toiletries, jewelry, and makeup. Up until the 1940's even bed linens and bath towels were bought as part of her wedding regalia for her new home. Footage courtesy Prelinger Archive"
A wedding gown worn by Mary Brian in 1929, during the Silent Film era.
Above is Mary Brian born in February 17, 1906 and died on December 30, 2002. She was an American actress and movie star who made the transition from silent films to sound films.
I 've also included below a film from that very same year she posed in the gown above, showing fashionable frocks for those of you who might like to recreate authentic bride's maids gowns from 1929. Perhaps you have some antique lace your grandmother once wore or her actual wedding dress?
"Three women pose in elaborate frocks. Four other women pose in more
sombre outfits. A woman turns her back to the camera to show cut-out
detail of her dress. A woman poses in floaty dress and fox fur.
Intertitle reads: "Simple and straight lines are fighting a losing
battle - frills and flounces are struggling for supremacy". More
outfits are shown. Two women pose in identical outfits - very
extravagant fur trimmed coat dresses. Elaborate hats and parasols
feature."
Left, A sculptured coiffure worn by Grace Bradley, Paramount player. The
sculptured ringlets are arranged in an upward manner and pinned flat in
a halo around the top of the head. Right, Back view of coiffure on left
showing the use of rhinestone clips to match pendant earrings.
New hair styles for wedding and honeymoon from 1938.
One the right, the butterfly coiffure worn by June Clayworth, Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer player, in which the hair is kept straight except for a soft roll at the nape of the neck and four large curls framing the face.
Find More Butterfly Broaches for Your Wedding Coiffure or Bouquet:
Above Left, From Paris, a new type of coiffure which raises the hair off the ears and arranges it high on the head in soft curls and rolls. Above Right, The double Pampadour coiffure worn by Wyn Cahoon, Columbia player. Two rolls on top of the head are complemented by soft pin curls on either side and a series of small rolls at the neck.
Men love long hair. Hair has been termed " woman's crowning glory,'' and yet women have nowadays cut short this crowning glory into what has picturesquely been termed the shingle. Is this fashion new or original? Why did the first woman who cut off, or who cut short, her hair do so? Well, it was notorious through the ages that women were always ready to sacrifice something. In olden days religious observances sometimes necessitated cutting the hair. In some communities some magic, mysterious power was believed to be attached to the hair. There was the historic case of Samson. When his hair was shorn his strength departed. Early Christian women cut off their hair because it was said that they possessed some mystic force contained in their hair, and they wished to convince their accusers that there was no such thing. Jealous husbands were in the habit of cutting off their wives' hair in order to compel them to keep indoors. In long- haired communities everyone knew that a woman's hair was cropped as a punishment, so the erring spouse was ashamed to go abroad until her hair grew again.
The ancient Egyptians cut their hair, in the first instance, from religious motives, and afterwards it became a fashion. Everyone has heard of the Nile, the great river which fertilizes that country. At times the Nile gets red, and the legend was that the water is tinged with the blood of Adonis. At these times the women used to indulge in a six-days orgy of singing and dancing. At the end they cut off their hair and cast it into the Nile. Afterwards they cut their hair off for convenience and pleasure. Egyptian women were the earliest to be emancipated, and they attained to a greater degree of freedom than any other women.
Among the Phoenicians it was the custom for women to sacrifice their hair and offer it to the gods in cases of bereavement. If a woman was averse from parting with her hair, she could pay a priest. The Lacedaemonian ladies wore their hair short and curled. The men had their beards curled. Anyone interested can examine the lovely specimens on view in the British Museum. According to the eminent French writer Chateaubriand, the women of Biblis, refusing to cut off their hair as a token of mourning for the death of Adonis, were compelled to atone for this by becoming the wives of foreigners for a day ! Ladies find it much easier to keep their hair on nowadays.
The bride's headdress among peasant folk was
adorned with many, many flowers in Bulgaria,
1910.
The legend of Berenice's hair was of interest. This lady was the husband of Ptolemy Euergetes, who undertook a campaign against Syria. She vowed that if he returned victorious she would cut off her hair and place it on the alter in the temple of Antinous. The victory was achieved, and Berenice's hair duly adorned the altar. But the priests were not vigilant, and the tresses were stolen. This annoyed the King, and he was determined to punish the priests. One of them, Cassion by name, suddenly found a new constellation in the heavens. The King was pleased to accept his explanation that it was Berenice's hair, which had been stolen by the gods and placed in the sky for a certain purpose.
Amongst the Romans about the second century the style of hair- dressing consisted of short, curled hair. The comment of the poet Appuleius on this was : " Were she born of the wave, like Venus herself, were she perfumed and garbed in the finest array, how could one accept her, deprived as she was of Nature's finest ornament?"
In the twelfth century the hair was allowed to grow in a thick mass at the back, but was cut at the sides, and slightly curled. This was the origin of the curl that was at one time known in England as the " kiss me quick."
A poem, called " The Nut Brown Maid." written about 1500 by Bishop Percy, is a most interesting document. The lover tells his lass that if she would go with him she must cut her hair and her kirtle. In other words, shingle and wear a short skirt. This proved that if the hair becomes shorter so does the skirt and vice versa. No one has seen long hair and short skirt, and they never will. Whatever was the reason, the cutting of hair and shortening of the skirt always went together, and meant that women were about to lead a more active life.
When Hungary was at war with Turkey she was helped by certain German princes. These princes wore their hair very short (nowadays they shave their heads !). In Germany it became the fashion for the ladies to cut their hair short as a token of their devotion. Further than this, a custom arose of presenting one's friend with a pair of scissors and inviting her to cut her hair short likewise.
Another woman who cut her hair short, and incidentally got into trouble over it, was Joan of Arc. Joan's mission demanded that she should live an active life, and she prepared for it by cutting her hair and shortening her skirt. Could anyone imagine Joan of Arc accomplishing what she did with long hair and a long skirt?
In the early seventeenth century (1630) the hair was generally divided into three parts: the chignon was worn on top, the front was cut, and the sides were cut short and curled corkscrew fashion. This mode necessitated the use of special irons. These were hollow, and were undoubtedly the ancestors of the modern curling iron.
Ninon de Lenclos, a contemporary of Charles I in England and Louis XIII in France, was responsible for short-hair fashion about 1653. One of her preferred admirers, the Marquis of Villarseaux, was so jealous that he fell ill. Ninon, to prove to him that he had no reason to suspect her loyalty, cut off her lovely tresses and sent them to him. Seeing that his mistress had sacrificed her "crowning glory" he sent for her. She disappeared and neither of them was seen for a week. The cutting of her hair was not in vain ! After this, hair a la Ninon became very fashionable. In the National Gallery can be seen a portrait of Nell Gwynne with a similar head-dressing. Why Nell had her hair cut is not known, but it is a very lovely portrait.
In the reign of Louis XIV the close-cropped hair was heard of for the first time. The hair was cut right on to the neck. Mme. de Sevigne described the fashion in one of her letters to her daughter.
The conservative bride of the 1920s wore her hair
rolled up on top of her head and then added a
long veil topped with a laurel wreath.
A woman known as La Martin was recognized as the finest exponent of the new fashion. She was the first lady hairdresser and only had one real male competitor.
Louis XVI's reign was the era of voluminous head-dresses. In England there was a tax of one guinea on powdered head-dresses. Those who wished to be fashionable had to produce the tax-gatherer's receipt. The pictures of Romney, Reynolds and Gainsborough show to what extremes ladies went in hairdressing. But even so, hair always wanted cutting, and scissors (and naturally some one to manipulate them) have alwavs been necessary.
The next period of any importance was that of the French Revolution. Robespierre was the man who sent thousands of people to the guillotine mainly, as he said, " aristocrats." Before a lady could be properly guillotined she had to have her hair bobbed. It is believed that the same custom of short hair is still popular in prisons. Revolutions bring excesses in every way. After the famous "9th Thermidor" France 'sighed with relief. Social functions became once more the order of the day. There was a ball given by ci-devant aristocrats, and anybody (ladies) who had suffered loss by the guillotine of any relation had their hair cut a la victime. Moreover, the arrival in Paris of some antique statues of Caracalla and Titus gave an impetus to the short-hair fashion. Talma, playing a part in the tragedy of " Brutus," reconstituted the role according to the purest tradition. He wore, over his powdered hair, a wig a la Titus made by Duplan, a hairdresser of the Rue des Petits Champs. Josephine de Beauharnais strongly influenced Bonaparte, just back from his campaign in Italy, to go to Duplan to have his hair shortened. Bonaparte obeyed, and all his general staff followed the new coiffure, which had the advantage of being more economical and hygienic than the old one. Rapidly the " Titus " was generalized and lasted for over fourteen years. Just about this time not even ten per cent, of ladies wore long hair.
After this a new fashion came about an intermediate fashion between the shingle and long hair. A turban was worn to hide the growing short hair. A turban worn judiciously does not give the short effect. Ladies wore the turban and supplemented its camouflage by employing false hair. This was quite in accordance with reaction.
The nineteenth century showed no abatement of women's sacrifices in the matter of hair. George Sand (who was a woman) cut her hair and sent it to her lover, Alfred de Musset, the poet. The lover taking no notice, she retired to a country residence, where as a solace she set herself to write that delightful historical romance "Mauprat"
Next came the early 'eighties (1880-5) when there was undoubtedly a short-hair fashion.
In Brittany, to be sure, women cut their hair for various reasons. Probably the first was that the Breton women wore bonnets. Another was that hair could easily be cut and swapped for sheets or pillow-cases. Even to-day there were crosses erected on the cliffs at many places. These crosses were very frequently adorned with hair. Most Bretons were sailors, and the tresses were (still sacrificing) those of mothers, sisters, wives and sweethearts who wished their men a safe return. The sacrifice of hair was to ensure a calm sea. In some parts of Brittany it was considered unlucky for a wife to comb her hair in the presence of her husband result, she cut off as much as she could, so that combing was unnecessary. On June 24, the fete of wSt. John, Breton maidens who had been unsuccessful in finding ''young men" cut their hair off as a sacrifice in the hope that they would find husbands. This procedure was verv successful.
How came fashion to be created ? Fashion had many putative fathers. The originator of any fashion is difficult to pick out. No man or woman living now can claim to be the "father" or "mother"
of the bob or shingle. Through '' The Nut Brown Maid," Joan of Arc, Ninon de Lenclos and a few others there is no doubt that violent action on the part of women has produced short hair and short skirts.
We now arrive at that most useful body of organized femininity -- the W.A.A.C.S. They reached their apotheosis somewhere about 1918. They always looked the picture of health. Thev drove motor-cars and generally ran the British Army at that time. The ranks of the ''Waacs" was no place for old ladies of sixty-five or thereabouts. That came later, about 1922, as far as hair-shortening was concerned. Between 1918 and 1922 the only women who bobbed their hair were those who had been on active service.
About 1922 milliners began to take a hand in the proceedings. They invented a hat known as the "cloche." Ladies found when purchasing their hats that there was a new war on hats versus hair! They repaired to their unfortunate hairdresser and told him that he was a rotten hairdresser, that he was stupid, and, owing to him, they couldn't find a hat to suit them.
Modern bridal headdress of 1920s,
hair worn bobbed.
Wise in his generation, the hairdresser "thinned" out the hair until the back adornment was but a small chignon, which could easily be tucked into a hat. Again came the milliners, who evolved a fashion which would not accommodate even this tiny "bun."
If the milliners had had their way they would have done away with hair. But, hair being the hairdresser's living, he cut ladies' hair a la victime. Again came the milliners, and the shingle resulted. The Eton crop, which had not really supervened, was "lovely." "Why, it makes women look nearly as pretty as men!"
Why are women looking for a new fashion? Because there are so many ill-trained and inferior workmen. Workmen who have no knowledge of contours or anatomy. Workmen who leave a lady's hair in such a condition that a self-respecting rat would refuse to gnaw it. The result is bound to be that women will look for some mode of hairdressing not so conspicuous. This will probably be a reversion to a style similar to that brought about by the imitators of La Martin there will be an intermediate fashion of hair a trifle longer than the shingle, which will give the hairdresser (the real hairdresser) a chance to manipulate his tools, and produce a better result.
Hairdressing is a sound proposition as long as the essential rules are observed. It is no good cutting the hair of a giraffe-necked lady in the same manner as a short-necked one. Nothing looks worse in the London theatres than the fearful array of bare necks, especially those that have been shaved some time previously and now bear traces of the new growth. The bad artist has bigger chances with long hair. The short-hair man who can soften down those " bumps " which the phrenologist loves and the hairdresser hates is the successful man in the hairdressing profession.
Newspapers have been announcing great changes in Court hair-dressing. That is a mere matter of logic. Take the average shingled lady. Where could the Court hairdresser affix the necessary feathers, diamond tiaras, veils, etc. ? If there is no hair there is no foundation. What does a long-necked, shingled woman, with two or three yards of train, look like ?
Women have, through the ages, sacrificed their hair to some deity or other. At the present day it is to the goddess Fashion. But be hair worn long or short, bobbed or shingled, there is, and will always be, plenty of work for the man or woman whose mission in life it is to make woman more charming (if possible) than he has found her.
These old stereoscopic scenes record the bride's attire from 1850 to 1860. I've posted it here for those of you who may be interested in having one of these lovely lace beauties recreated for a historically accurate bridal gown.
"Animated stereoscopic staged scenes of weddings and marriage from the
1850's and 1860's. A few of the scenes are identified as being taken by
photographer James Elliot. All are hand-colored and all are probably
British in origin. Original captions that came with the stereoviews are
in quotes."
"With a white house bride to lead the procession the fall brides have marched right into the shops, they have taken possession of the dress-making strongholds, and wherever gowns or hats or muffs or boots are found there you will find the fall bride-and she is getting just as much fun, and perhaps just as much worry-out of her trousseau shopping as the fair lady at Washington who is compelled to do her shopping with the eye of the nation upon her.
What the white house bride will wear on her "day of days" is still much of a secret, but most other brides will wear white satin, or messaline, or Georgette crepe-- which means that brides will dress according to tradition rather than fashion.
The fall bride will affect simplicity in her wedding gown--notice the rather severe lines of the bridal robe I have sketched here from a design by Mme. Bailey of the Fashion Art League of America. The foundation is white satin with an overskirt of hand-run lace and hand-run lace is used in the lower part of the bodice with fine net embroidered red in crystal and pearl beads forming the upper part. The veil is caught into soft wide pleats and fastened at the back of the coiffure with a jeweled ornament that forms a Greek band around the head.
And don't overlook the length of the skirt. Seven inches from the ground. Which may not be dignified, but you cannot deny that it is smart."
These two bridal groups were chosen by me to create all the romantic atmosphere for a happy wedding day -- plus the latest trends in modern fashion.
Because lace is new, I chose white lace for the bride and the bridesmaid - sketched on the right. Both dresses are full-skirted and flounced, both have moulded bodice tops finished with long, fitted sleeves.
The bride's veil is a circle of lace shaped like a bonnet, from which falls a long tulle veil. The bridesmaid's headdress echoes the bride's without repeating it.
The second bride is dressed in white satin and lace, chosen because satin is one of the most glamorous bridal fabrics in the world. The bridesmaid wears diaphanous chiffon in violet-blue, which is a new pastel tone.
The bride gown accentuates the current silhouette, a tapering waist and rounded hips. The misty white bridal veil is held in place with a simple flower arrangement. A matching veil in a shorter length is worn by the bridesmaid. Betty Keep
