… designer in the Mid and Late French Victorian eras, and his son would carry on into the Edwardian eras. (An early 1860’s design Sketch from Worth House of Fashion showing the application of the different cage hoops or crinolines to his original design concepts).
… as he worked with and hired other designers to implement his concepts. His business grew, and fame spread to the United States. (Photo: an 1865 Worth ballgown made for Empress Eugenie of France)
… featured the hoop. Whether elaborately trimmed, or sophisticated and tailored, the early 1860 silhouette was dictated by Charles Worth and his staff. His success as a designer to the wealthy, allowed him to open his own Fashion House right in the center of the fashionable section of Paris. (Extant …
… which defined early and mid Victorian fashion eras, just got bigger and bigger under Charles Worth’s hand. Not only Court Dress and evening wear, but also day wear featured the huge silhouette. While the earlier symmetrical hoops could be made of horsehair or tape, the new shape had to …
… larger, and with an elongated train, under Worth’s design. It was perfect to show off important women in Court, and the nobility loved it. (Museum photo: the 1861 Cage Crinoline and silhouette it created)
… the Worth creation of the crinoline (see prior month’s discussion on Early Victorian development of petticoats to hoops and crinolines). It is easy for us today to look back and identify the Mid-Victorian era by the crinoline with its giant diameter and wide back of the early 1860’s, but …
… Paris was once again an imperial capital and the setting for numerous state occasions. Napoleon III implemented a grand vision for both Paris and France, initiating changes and modernization that revitalized the French economy and made Paris into a showpiece of Europe. The demand for luxury goods, including textiles …
… started by working in 2 design houses in London before he moved to Paris to use those credentials to work for dressmaker Gagelin. Gagelin sold textiles and some ready-made garments. Worth, working his way up to become the lead salesman, he opened a dressmaking department. This was where Worth …
… struck out on his own and opened his own business. Worth had extremely good timing. Napoleon III ascended as emperor, and took as his wife the fashionable Eugénie, and the revitalization of France initiated by the emperor. The trendsetting initiated by his wife, led to an insistence for high …
… was one of the factors causing early Victorian to become the mid Victorian era. It was the influence of high fashion of “La Belle Epoque” in Paris that influecned women worldwide. Worth was THE key designer in the 1850’s and 1860’s. Born in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England on October 13, …
