"He was in her closet, going through her dresses swiftly. He fumbled and drew out her new jade-green watered-silk dress. It was cut low over the bosom and the skirt was draped back over an enormous bustle and on the bustle was a huge bunch of pink velvet roses."
--Gone with the Wind, Chapter LIII
Our Doppelganger Dresses selection for this week is a change of pace from what will typically be the main focus of the series: Walter Plunkett's costumes for the movie version of Gone with the Wind. But Plunkett isn't the only person in the GWTW world known for scrupulous attention to detail and historical accuracy--there's also Margaret Mitchell to contend with, of course. So this time, we have three fashion plates for you based on MM's description of the notorious dress Scarlett wore to Ashley’s birthday party.
I admit I have always had a hard time picturing what this dress looked like in my mind ("an enormous bustle with pink velvet roses - huh?!"). So if this dress leaves you sartorially stumped like me, I hope these images help bring it into greater focus.
Check them out after the jump. Which one can you most imagine Scarlett wearing to Ashley's surprise party?
Editor's note: the dresses below are from 1871, 1874, and 1877 respectively. While only the last two images match up color-wise with the book description, I wanted to showcase a rather similar style from early 1871 as well, so you could get a sense of what was en vogue then.
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| Imagine it in green: a white evening dress, March 1871. From Godey's Lady's Book. |
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| Green evening dress, 1874. From Dame Fashion: London-Paris, 1786-1912. |
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| Green evening dress, January 1877. From Journal des Demoiselles. |
