… interior and exterior designs as well as beautiful fabrics were the Aesthetic Movement’s contribution to Victorian society. (Photo: an Aesthetic wallpaper and stained glass interior from about 1900)
Category: Fashion History Blog
One week to Showtime!!
Open to the public, Powell, Wyoming. We’ll have a FULL LINE UP of 10 models, a ton of history, and books that support our topics. It’s hosted by the “Friends of Powell Library”, and we hope for a standing-room-only crowd, so if you’re in the Cody, Wyoming area – come …
Aesthetics did not limit themselves to fashion…
… or fabrics. TheAesthetic movement within the Victorian fashion era were big in the development of interior design elements and architecture. (Photo: The Green Room in the Albert and Victoria Museum in London, was designed by William Morris, a leader of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, and inspiration for Aesthetes)
Meet Rachel! Our newest Gal…
… Rachel joins us as one of the youngest members of “The Buffalo Gals” hired interpreters. She will be depicting an 1892 housemaid from Red Lodge, Wyoming, who works for a wealthy Victorian rancher. The character will “grow up” parallel to her own life, as she possibly leaves home, gets …
Pre-Raphaelites, Aesthetes, & Reformers…
.. the counter design movements to the Victorian eras – the Pre-Raphaelites preceding and inspiring the Aesthetes, and the Reformers building on those concepts – took place worldwide, and predominantly in Europe. As would be the Art Nouveau fashion movement in 1900, forms and styles were regional, meaning Prussia might …
Pre-Raphaelites who inspired Aesthetes were artists…
.. in the 19th century who despised the “schooled” method of art that was prevalent in the day which required certain lighting, levels or realism, and specific rules. Pre-Raphaelite art was often erotic, sensual, and depicted women scantily clad in dreamlike settings with mythological themes. The Aesthetic counter-Victorian fashion movement …
Paintings were the inspiration for Aesthetes…
…as they were influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite paintings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne Jones who idealized medieval life in imaginary ethereal scenes. The women in these paintings appear to wear no corsetry and have freedom and “naturalness” that was admired by the Aesthetes. (Featured: painting by Pre-Raphaelite leader …
The Aesthetic movement was technically 1870-1880…
… in the mid-Victorian Era, although it got its start in reform and the early eras and in response to industrialization and mass production. They were a group of talented artists, poets, writers, and actors. The leader was painter William Morris. He and architect Voysey designed houses together being fastidious …
Aesthetes were dangerous to vegetables…
The Aesthetic (“counter fashion”) movement within and counter to the Victorian fashion era went beyond textiles and fashion. Aesthetes were also often vegetarians and campaigned for animal welfare rights. They objected to the use of feathers on hats and the use of whole dead birds as a hat ornament. Modern …
Aesthetes hated sewing machines…
… because it allowed excessive embellishment of dresses because trims were so cheap with mass production and because trimming could easily be added at home or in the shop. (Photo: a family of Aesthetes in full Aesthetic fashion in about 1900)