At the DWCG's first overnight event - Costumers' Lost Weekend - we decided to mix things up a bit. Instead of having a big fancy gala, we're going to have a Mourning Party. The idea for our mini-con actually grew from a few of us talking about having a "pity party" for the folks who can't make it out to Costume College this year, so we thought it would be cheeky and fun to have a party to mourn the fact that we are stuck here in Texas instead of living it up in LA.
So now I need a black dress that would be appropriate for mourning. I tossed around a lot of ideas ranging from 1950's to Edwardian to Tudor, but I finally settled into the 18th c. after I stumbled across a few fabulous examples of black chemise dresses. I had never considered the possibility that chemise dresses could be black, but once I started looking around, I was surprised by how many examples I found of the more somber versions of robes en chemise. It seemed like a really fun choice that is different from the foofy white dresses that you see more often.
My dress is currently taking shape, and I hope to have some progress pictures that I can share in the next few days. In the meantime, I thought I would show you all some of my favorite black chemise dresses from 18th c. art. My dress isn't a direct copy of any one style, but I have combined elements from several of these paintings and illustrations to create my own version of a black chemise.
5 comments:
I didn't knew black chemise gown actually existed! Thank you, that's an awesome and very informative post!
My gothic heart goes squee!
This is awesome! And great that it grew out of a joke about a "pity party" :)
They're so pretty.
so beautiful dresses :-)
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