.. and marketing.  In the beginning when Worth was still in England, he cut off French clothing labels & sewed them onto his English made clothes, introducing the first designer labels.  Later, when his designs and market could stand on its own, he made his designs available to other dressmakers, …

… to make her a ball gown of such uniqueness and to make a statement about her family’s contribution to innovation and society, that Mrs. Astor would take note and invite her to the higher levels of American society during the “Gilded Age” (1870’s into 1880’s).  This Worth gown named …

.. just as big as in Europe.  America’s industrialists were very wealthy, and the Astors and Vanderbilts were big clients. (Mrs. Alva Vanderbilt of the elite wealthy class in America, models a late 1870’s Worth gown)

… and exact fit, the Worth design salon had special lighting that made his customers look beautiful.  Clients would make selections & have their measurements taken right there in the work rooms.  His fame and notoriety was unique to other designers who would travel to the clients’ homes for custom …

… several designs for the SEASON, rather than let the customer dictate the design has had been the previous dressmaking practice by himself and other designers. Worth would make a flamboyant introduction of the seasonal designs by putting them on live models who would show them in private sessions to …

…was a concept invented by Worth to sell more clothing to the wealthy and elite.  “Haute Couture” invented the term “costume” which dictated that each different function or activity should have it’s own “costume”. Worth encouraged wealthy women of all the European countries and the U.S. to make at least …

… including Sarah Bernhardt, Lillie Langtry, Jenny Linda, and Nellie Melba were Worth customers.  Not only did he design for royals, stage (and later screen), Parisian High Fashion designer Charles Worth also created special event pieces such as masquerade ball costumes and wedding dresses. (A Worth sketch of a masquerade …

… humorists, critics, and satirists had great fun with the crinolines.  Much of what we know today is through cartoons and satirical writing of those who wanted to comment on the huge hoops of the mid Victorian era, and Worth himself.  Some of the jokes were merited, as wearing a …

… looked to royals of all the countries plus the US.   In one such effort, after a successful sale to the wife of the Austrian ambassador so she could attract the notice of the Empress of France, Worth became Court Designer for Russia, Italy, Spain, & Austria as well as …

..worldwide, and the scale to which he did things – when the Suez Canal was finished in 1869, Empress Eugenie of France had Worth make her 250 dresses so she could attend the opening.   As the Second Empire of France (the Bourbons back on the throne after the Napoleon …