Wedding Dress, ca. 1870s
This dress has pagoda sleeves and a bodice in the 1850s style, while the bustle skirt is 1870s style. The dress may have been remade, but there is little evidence of alteration, so it is possible that it made to look old fashioned (like wearing a vintage style dress today)
via The Met
Silk Brocade Dress, ca. 1840, Remade from a ca. 1780 Dress
via The Met
It's time for FRIDAY FASHION FACT, and today is our first designer bio! I can't think of anyone better to start off with than the father of haute couture himself, Charles Frederick Worth.
Charles Worth was born in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England in 1825. Due to his family's lack of money, Worth was forced to start working when he was just 11 years old. He was an apprentice to a printer, but hated the work. He was drawn to fabric shops, with trims and ready-made accessories, so when he was 13 he moved to London and began an apprenticeship at the department store Swan and Edgar. Young Worth spent his free time wandering the National Gallery, becoming enamored with historical portraits. Worth believed that the fabrics and fashions of the past were far superior to modern styles, as we so often think today.
When Worth was 20, he moved to Paris with the hopes of breaking into the elite dressmaking industry. After years of struggling between odd jobs, he landed a position as a sales clerk at Maison Gagelin-Opigez, Chazelle et Cie, an elite house of silks and shawls. He worked his way through the ranks, ultimately earning his way to a design position. In 1855, he won first prize at the Exposition Universelle for his design of a court train which quickly became the style across Europe. Around this time, Charles Worth married Marie Vernet, a model at Gagelin-Opigez. Charles created all of Marie's dresses, which the customers then began to request.
With his talent and popularity exploding, Worth set out to create his own company. In 1857, he partnered with Otto Gustaf Bobergh, a wealthy Swedish businessman, and opened Worth et Bobergh in Paris. The shop was a near-instant success. Worth dressed his shop-girls in the most elaborate fashions, giving his shop the appearance of a royal court. In 1870, Bobergh decided to retire, and thus the House of Worth was officially born.
Charles Worth was both a historian and an innovator. Influenced by the historical portraits he loved so much when he was younger, Worth brought luxury and detail into his designs. Royalty and the most elite members of society became Worth's standard clientele. He created the idea of showing his lines the season before, since his clients would be in the countryside in the summer, so he showed his Spring/Summer looks in January, a system that remains to this day.
Charles Worth trained his sons Jean-Phillipe and Gaston-Lucien in the art of dressmaking, and by 1890, handed the business over to them completely. In 1895, at the age of 69, Charles Frederick Worth died suddenly of pulmonary congestion. His legacy lived on, though, and House of Worth continued to thrive under his sons' leadership. That, however, is a story for another day.
Want to learn more about Charles Frederick Worth? Check out these books:
The House of Worth, by Amy de la Haye and Valerie D. Mendes
Worth: Father of Haute Couture, by Diana de Marly
Have a question about fashion history that you want answered in the next FRIDAY FASHION FACT? Just click the ASK button at the top of the page!
Cotton Muslin Dress with Floral Embroidery, ca. 1810
This dress served as an inspiration for a 1950's muslin designed for Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Jr., by Charles James.
via The Met
Silk Velvet Spencer Jacket, ca. 1815
via Augusta Auctions
Elizabethan Inspired Ball Gown, ca. 1820
via The Met
