Material constructions: making, outré and taste in late 19th century dress

Abstract

• Late nineteenth-century Europe and North America experienced some of the most accelerated wealth gains the modern industrial age has known. Overtly and purposefully expressed through access to and making of material culture, this paper will consider how this wealth and the luxurious transience of fashionable dress expressed the leisure, social access and knowledge of the wearer through two deceptively simple inputs: cost and style. For the leisured classes taste of style formed (and still does form) a point of near obsession as the shifting epitome of what an individual or organisation wished to express or cover up about themselves. This paper will explore the materiality and taste of decadence through a reflective examination of the construction, fabrics and embellishment of six garments and accessories in National Museums Scotland’s collection, c.1850-1900. Two Parisian garments inspired by ‘other’ ‘exotic’ cultures in their heavily beaded trimmings and Persian and Chinese style textiles will be contrasted with the ostensible reversion to simplicity of two Liberty dresses; comparing their internal construction to external appearance will pose questions of authenticity, mimicry and how boundaries of taste were enacted in different social environments. Aniline textiles used in a top hat box and pair of long-johns, and a pair of heavily beaded slippers will address questions of colour technology and visual vibrancy; asking how central was outré dressing to expressions of decadence and how may this have acted as a foil for defining Aestheticism. Discussion will centre on subjective responses to aesthetics and design versus highly developed making, considering how wealth pushed manual and industrial skill levels to extreme achievements, while prompting reflection on what value systems this and a fixation with materiality really promoted.