Poster of the Week

Following in its tradition of producing vibrant GWTW posters, Italy brings us another fiery rendition of Rhett and Scarlett, this time fleeing Atlanta.

Image from moviegoods.com.

Ballgowns Circa 1867-68, or What to Wear to Make Your Enemies Jealous

"Hoops were out now, and the new styles were charming with the skirts pulled back from the front and draped over bustles, and on the bustles were wreaths of flowers and bows and cascades of lace.  She thought of the modest hoops of the war years and she felt a little embarrassed at these new skirts which undeniably outlined her abdomen."

--Gone with the Wind, Chapter XLVIII

You've just secured a fabulously stylish new wardrobe. What to do next? Why, throw an elaborate party and show off celebrate, of course! At least that's the course of action Scarlett O'Hara Butler decided to take as a newlywed. As we know, one of her very first initiatives as the freshly minted Mrs. Rhett Butler was to throw a lavish, if regrettably ill-attended, "crush" in her huge new mansion. Given that Scarlett expected her crush to be the social event of the season, we can surely guess that she put tremendous care into dressing for the occasion. So what exactly would she have worn?

As per her usual attention to detail and historical acccuracy, MM does a wonderful job of describing the fashions that comprised Scarlett's new wardrobe after her marriage to Rhett. But we thought we'd take her description one step further and bring you a slideshow of the fabulous, frilly ballgowns of the time. Below you'll find 21 fashion plates from Le Monde Elegant all circa 1867-68. Check them out and let us know what you think. Do you have any favorites? Which one(s) can you see Scarlett wearing? 

Ladies at Home: A Peek at Victorian Wrappers

For those of you reading/receiving this post for a second time, we're sorry. Blame our Google overlords for screwing up and deleting the initial post.

A long, long time ago our friend MM (now going by the name of MCM84) had a question. A very specific question. He was interested in Scarlett's wrappers. The movie features a variety of wrappers, the book mentions them on more than a few occasions, without offering further details about their style and color, so why not write a post about Scarlett's homewear? Easier said than done. Since clothes you wear at home have never been the most glamorous of items, fashion magazines of the time tended to bypass them in favor of the more elegant street dresses. We did our best to dig out stuff, however, and this is what we came up with.

The key to understanding Victorian wrappers is understanding their function. When were they supposed to be worn and who was supposed to see them? We get our answer from Florence Hartley's Ladies' Book of Etiquette, Fashion and Manual of Politeness, a book that first appeared in 1860, but was revised and republished over the years; our edition is the 1872 one.  Wrappers were supposed to be worn in the morning, before morning calls, when ladies were attending to their household duties. This explains the need for durable fabrics, that could be washed frequently, as Hartley explains at length:

"MORNING DRESS The most suitable dress for breakfast, is a wrapper made to fit the figure loosely, and the material, excepting when the winter weather requires woolen goods, should be of chintz, gingham, brilliante, or muslin. A lady who has children, or one accustomed to perform for herself light household duties, will soon find the advantage of wearing materials that will wash. A large apron of domestic gingham, which can be taken off, if the wearer is called to see unexpected visitors, will protect the front of the dress, and save washing the wrapper too frequently. If a lady's domestic duties require her attention for several hours in the morning, whilst her list of acquaintances is large, and she has frequent morning calls, it is best to dress for callers before breakfast, and wear over this dress a loose sack and skirt of domestic gingham. This, while protecting the dress perfectly, can be taken off at a moment's notice if callers are announced." 

--from Florence Hartley, The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, Fashion and Manual of Politeness

Wrapper from Godey's Lady's Book, 1866

But, if this was their function, were wrappers then designed solely for the eyes of the lady's family and house servants? Strictly speaking, yes. Well-bred ladies were not supposed to receive wearing their wrapper. But Victorians were nothing if not overly fond of elaborating  their etiquette rules to contradictory heights. While it was not polite for a lady to receive visitors in her plain wrapper, it was even more impolite to keep them waiting while she changed into a suitable outfit (which, depending on the lady's tastes, could take some time). So if one had unexpected callers, it was considered acceptable to excuse oneself and greet them in a wrapper. Moreover, it was impolite to wear very elaborate dresses in the morning, so ladies were encouraged to avoid the danger of overdressing by donning an elegant wrapper, meant to button to the waist and show the white underskirt from there down:

"DRESS FOR MORNING VISITS A lady should never receive her morning callers in a wrapper, unless they call at an unusually early hour, or some unexpected demand upon her time makes it impossible to change her dress after breakfast. On the other hand, an elaborate costume before dinner is in excessively bad taste. The dress should be made to fit the figure neatly, finished at the throat and wrists by an embroidered collar and cuffs, and, unless there is a necessity for it, in loss of the hair or age, there should be no cap or head dress worn. A wrapper made with handsome trimming, open over a pretty white skirt, may be worn with propriety; but the simple dress worn for breakfast, or in the exercise of domestic duties, is not suitable for the parlor when receiving visits of ceremony in the morning."-
-from Florence Hartley, The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, Fashion and Manual of Politeness

La Mode Illustree, 1867.

Godey's Lady's Book, 1856

What this meant was that wrappers were never plain, shabby garments never to be seen  by the world, not even the ones that were worn solely for breakfast. They were meant for a more informal and intimate but still semi-public  space and, as such, their patterns followed the trends for proper dresses, if in a more subdued style and different fabrics. When bustles became popular, wrappers were cut to either resemble a small bustle in the back or to be able to accommodate one. They favored bright colors and patterns and were meant to be worn with slipper of embroidered cloth or, in the summer, black morocco.

Godey's Lady's Book, October 1864

One example of a beautiful  and very ornate Victorian wrapper you can see below. You're strongly encouraged to visit this page to see more pictures of it and read the detailed description. It is easy to envision Scarlett in this style of more lavish wrapper, isn't it?

 

Rue de la Paix

This week we've got a little collage that I put together to go along with that "Gone with the Wind Scrapbook" theme we have around there. Enjoy!

Remember Me by gwtwscrapbook on Polyvore.com

Poster of the Week

Alright, after some technical difficulties with Blogger, we're back in action with a now somewhat belated poster of the week. We think this highly unusual German poster looks like a guy's version of GWTW--war plus Scarlett in a red dress. What do you think?

Image from moviegoods.com

 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! In celebration our collage this week features the always-enchanting Vivien Leigh and her daughter. Best wishes to all our readers for a Happy Mother's Day celebration! 

Vivien's Lullaby by ~Lotti~ featuring strappy heels

Poster of the Week

"The greatest motion picture ever made!" proclaims this 11x17 poster (circa 1940s-50s), which depicts Rhett and Scarlett's escape from Atlanta and, as is de rigueur in so much GWTW poster art, a swooning Scarlett in Rhett's arms.

Image from moviegoods.com.