Mellon

Check out this lady's beautiful weird dress

The Rain Coat by Robert Wun

Silk-mix jacquard and embossed taffeta rain coat. Hand-beaded with over 30,000 Swarovski clear crystals. Over 600 hours of hand work.

Something must be wrong with me, I haven't talked about the beadnet dress in forever.

It consists of seven thousand faience beads in blue green and blue to imitate turquoise and lapis lazuli. It is 4600 years old (the threading is modern, but the beads were found in their original pattern so this reconstruction is as accurate as it can be). It is one of the most gorgeous garments in existence and was owned by a woman who was a contemporary of king Khufu.

The dress was found in her tomb in Giza, known as Tomb G 7440 Z, and it's the earliest known garment of this type.

Imagine serving this much cunt

Evening dress, ca. 1810

French

A 1992 column dress by Gianfranco Ferre for Christian Dior.

nngh.

Moschino Fall 2022

Poem Bangkok Timeless Collection Chapter V: “Sonnet Of The Moon”

Paolo Sebastian, spring 2021 haute couture, “Persephone”

Stockings, 1830, cotton/silk.

Frieda Lepold’s “Stays dress”, “Mushroom dress” and “Witch dress”

Slovak Renaissance by Petra Lajdová (2012-2014)

Contemporary art photography of the beauty and artistry of Slovak traditional costumes, specifically headpieces and the upper parts. The multi-colored character of these parts of Slovak folk costumes has its origins in Slovakia’s wealth of natural beauty – it’s diverse terrain, mountains, valleys, green lowlands, wide meadows, rolling hills, mountain pools and lakes. In addition, the costumers’ richness emerges from the ethnically, socially and religiously diverse character of the country.  All of this is reflected in their colorful patterns and the richly or simply decorated headpieces.

Inspired by vintage book covers and other unexpected materials 

Sylvie Facon creates unique evening gowns  

Dress

House of Worth

c.1897

Palais Galliera

It was probably dyed with arsenic and is poisonous to wear. But it’s beautiful.

If that’s how I go then that’s how I go, I wanna wear this 24/7

This has come up on a couple of my posts and I think it’s time to bust some myths.

TL;DR: Arsenic poisoning was a real danger in Victorian society but it’s highly unlikely it was caused by your dress. In fact the dresses were probably the least dangerous arsenic dyed items!

First, this dress is past the time when cloth would be dyed with arsenic. Victorians were well aware of the dangers of arsenic by the 1860s. In fact, in 1859 a non-toxic alternative had been developed (Interwoven). 

It’s far more likely that the actual makers of the pigment would die seeing as they were in direct contact with the arsenic, like Matilda Scheurer in 1861. Arsenic was found in much higher levels in the fake fabric flowers that were very popular at the time (Fashion Victims via Jezebel). It’s kind of similar to how mercury poisoning was a danger to hatters, not particularly to the person wearing the hat. The woman wearing the outfit would have a whole host of underthings on that would protect her skin while the maker was in contact with the arsenic with no protection.

Items that were far more likely to cause arsenic poisoning were gloves and stockings. These items are in direct contact with the skin and more importantly, your hands and feet get sweaty. Sweat allows the arsenic to be absorbed by the blood stream (Museums). 

Seeing as a dress does not come into direct contact with the skin, the arsenic can’t be absorbed by the blood stream. Arsenic poisoning really depends on quantity over quality. If we chug some arsenic laced wine, we’re a goner. If we absorb a small bit from our gloves or stockings, our blood stream will eventually filter it out. If the levels are high enough, you would have some nausea or vomiting or experience some damage on your skin like the lady above (CDC Arsenic Fact Sheet). In fact, the boxes that these items were stored in could be more of a danger than the accessory itself. 

Second, arsenic was literally everywhere in Victorian Society.  Arsenic was used as food dye (The Atlantic). Arsenic is still used in medicine (Wikipedia). Arsenic was used in wallpapers so often that it led to a popular myth about Napoleon being poisoned by his wallpaper on St. Helena (while it’s possible that there was arsenic present, it more than likely exacerbated any pre-existing conditions and did not directly kill him) (Science Daily). Most importantly, arsenic was a popular ingredient in many beauty products.

Yup. Beauty products.

Dr. James P. Campbell’s Safe Arsenic Complexion Wafers is one such product. The wafers supposedly give you “a deliciously clear complexion.” Don’t worry though, they’re “Guaranteed Absoluetly Safe And Harmless To Anybody” (National Museum of American History)

And with that, dear reader, I leave you with a quote from Elizabeth Semmelhack, a senior curator at the Bata Shoe Museum: