#house of worth

Worth Gowns

I feel like every single dress historian has tackled the topic of Worth gowns at some point so let me be no different. I keep seeing so many people wanting to make one themselves and looking to find their Worth gown that I wondered, maybe I can do that too.

Obviously, I’m by far not as skilled as all of these other amazing, talented artists (I mean, just look at Cathy Hay recreating the Peacock Dress) but maybe once I’ve made some Victorian gowns I’ll get the hang of it and maybe, I’ll feel like I can do it.

But today I sat down and thought I could make it a mission to look at photos of as many Worth gowns as I could possibly find and maybe find one for a future project.

But first, if you’ve never heard of Charles Frederick Worth, he’s basically the father of haute couture and the first fashion designer in the modern sense. He founded the House of Worth which existed from 1858 up until 1956. Worth gowns have the name Worth stitched onto the inside of the waistband either like this

or like this

For now, I just looked through the collection of the Met Museum but there are still sooo many more gowns to find.

So now I would like to present to you some of my favorites and/or ones that I thought were particularly interesting.

First of all, we have this beautiful early 1860s lavender dress with two bodices, one for day wear and one for evening wear.

When I hear people talk about Worth gowns it’s mostly about 1880s or 90s dresses so when I found out that the House of Worth was already founded in 1958 I was very surprised because I didn’t actually know that. That’s why I wanted to include this dress, because early Worth gowns are not something that are mentioned a lot.

Next up there’s this seemingly ordinary dress.

It looks so ordinary I would’ve never guessed it was made by Worth! But then again, it’s a morning dress so it’s sort of understandable why it’s not as extravagant as the rest.

Then I stumbled across this interesting, very experimental-looking dress.

It’s almost as if an 18th century Polonaise and an 1880s dress had a baby.

Now, let’s get to my favorites! It’s really hard to decide which one’s the most beautiful one so I’m going to mention them in no particular order.

There’s this champagne-colored beauty with actual pearl tassles!

And once you take a closer look you’ll see that there’s pearl trimming around the neckline and it actually looks like pearl lace. Incredible.

Then there’s this gorgeous 1902 floral gown.

The way the flowers separate from the rest and are used as appliqué on the lace is just stunning.

Next up, we have this beauty.

I don’t really know what it is that I love about this gown, it’s everything. The way the colors aren’t the same but match perfectly, the gold patterns, the train…

And finally, we have… I think if I had to choose one this would be it, so maybe I did end up putting them in order of my preference. Oh well.

This is an 1882 evening dress, but I’m just gonna say… imagine this as your wedding dress. Not that I’d want to get married in it, but just… a hypothetical wedding with this hypothetical wedding dress, it’s giving me just enough fae vibe to feel like you’re in a Disney movie but not too much to make it too tacky.

So this concludes today’s search for The Perfect Worth Gown. If I had to recreate one, I’d probably choose the mermaid one, the green and blue one, just because I feel like that’s the most doable one of them. But ironically enough I picked almost only 1880s dresses, which is my least favorite Victorian fashion decade. Guess I might get myself a bustle after all to recreate a Worth gown.

House of Worth (attributed) | 1910

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This elegant gown, presumed to be made by Worth, is heavily influenced by the Japonism movement sweeping across the arts in Europe. The cut and beading is heavily reminiscent of the kimono worn in ukiyo-e prints that held immense fascination for westerners at the time.

Visiting Dress | c. 1865⠀

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The inspiration for this visiting or late day ensemble was a toilette designed by the so-called father of haute couture, Charles Frederick Worth and worn by Princess Pauline de Metternich, wife of the Austrian ambassador to the French court during the Second Empire, who was known for her trendsetting elegance. A. A. E. Disdéri, the inventor of the carte de visite, recorded multiple views of the princess in her Worth gown with its distinctive vertical black velvet appliqués on the full, trained skirt between 1861–62. Although it is impossible to determine what sources the maker used to confect her à la mode dress, the inclusion of fullscale paper patterns in fashion periodicals from about 1850 and the expanding retail distribution of sewing machines, especially in the 1860s, allowed—even encouraged— women to re-create the most up-to-date styles at home. Two leading publications, The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine and Le Moniteur de la Mode, regularly offered their readers patterns that could be modified by the individual dressmaker and advertised the newest models of sewing machines. In her assertive interpretation of Worth’s influential design, the wearer, and likely maker too, of this gown announced her awareness of and participation in a widespread trend that originated from the most famous couturier in the long-acknowledged capital of fashion.

Cora Ginsburg

Worth evening dress, 1890’s

From the Maryland Center for History and Culture

Silk velvet dress

Designed by Jean-Phillipe Worth

1896

Boston Museum of Fine Arts