History of Masquerade Balls

This week's post is all about masquerade balls and the history behind them!

The concept of a masked celebration goes back to the Medieval Era in Venice, originally created to honor a marriage or mark a certain point in the royal dynasty. After a short period of time, the masked celebrations became open to all classes, rather than being exclusive to royalty.

At first, many opposed the idea of masking one's identity and socializing with people from lower classes. Later, people saw the romantic allure of anonymity and being able to portray an identity rather than your own.

Later, in the eight-teenth and nine-teenth century Venetian masquerade balls became wildly popular all over Europe and even making their way over to colonial America. Golden masks were some of the most popular choices. Adorned with feathers, flowers, and jewels, these masks were absolutely breathtaking.

 

And of course the gowns had to be just as elaborate as the masks. Rich colors accented with gold was always an enviable pairing.

Marie Antoinette herself attended such celebrations, looking absolutely stunning of course. 

Throughout the years, masquerade balls have always had the alluring feel of mystery and romance about them that has made them last through centuries.

Thank you for reading! I hope you've enjoyed it!

The Aesthetic Movement

This week's post will be focused on the Aesthetic Movement during the Victorian Era!

The Aesthetic Movement took place from around 1870 to 1880. It was led mostly by artists, poets, writers, and actors who called themselves the Aesthetes.

Aesthetes opposed machine made products and felt as though the Industrial Revolution was the beginning to the end of human hands in the workplace. Because of this opposition, they would dress in loose fitted clothing dyed naturally, sometimes with vegetable juices, and wore earth toned and floral patterns made with real flowers sewn to the fabric.
Does the term "flower power" come to mind? :)

The women also started wearing loose corsets, if wearing one at all, to show their disapproval of adornment and the "allusion" that constricting corsets made a lady respectable. Aesthetes favored the natural body shape and embraced the concept of "less is more".

The fashion was also influenced by the Medieval Time's use of wide, billowed sleeves and the loose fitted attire.




Aesthetes defied society from their dress to their red hair and even to their diet. Most Aesthetes were vegetarians and felt that there was no logic in killing animals. They opposed wearing birds or feathers on their garments and opted for flowers instead.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this post and learned something new!

Flapper Fashion of the 1920's

 This week I thought I would do a post on the fabulous fashion worn by flappers in the mid to late 1920's!

Flappers? What nonsense is this?!

A flapper was a young lady in the 1920's whose intent was more on enjoying herself than it was on following acceptable behaviors of the time. Flappers were thought to be rebels and to have loose morals as it was that they were often enjoying a sip of alcohol at a speakeasy whilst showing off their skin.

During this time, prohibition was in effect causing many speakeasies to open. Speakeasies were secret clubs or bars that served alcohol illegally. Because the government was infringing on the peoples' right to drink, rebellions broke out. And what is more rebellious than a lady showing her legs, wearing excessive amounts makeup, and dancing risque?

The silhouette changed drastically from the S figure that was carried over from the Victorian Era to a more flat and straight figure. This was to create more of a boyish look because women that were rebelling also wanted to prove that men were not the dominant sex.

 Short hairstyles were also used to create the boyish look. This shook the fashion world during this time. Previously, women wore their hair quite long and long hair was a sort of symbol of being a lady, but women were rebelling against all traditions and society's beliefs.

Hats, caps, and headbands would be worn to tuck long hair under to create that desired boyish look.

                             

 

 Although the boyish look was so coveted, women still wanted to be glamorous and would wear heavy makeup and powders with deep red lips.

And of course, pearls! The signature jewelry of flappers.

Last but not least, the shoes! Because flappers would dance the nights away, their shoes would usually have a strap or buckle to keep them from slipping off. The height of the heel was rarely over 3 - 3 1/2 inches, not that it was really much of a concern. :)

               

 

                

 

 While we're on the subject of prohibition, here's a fun fact; in the fabulous movie It's A Wonderful Life, in 1928 when Harry was off to his graduation party his father stopped him and said, "No gin tonight, son! Not one drop!" This is peculiar because prohibition lasted from 1920 to 1933 and it was in 1928 that Mr. Bailey said this. Interesting...

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post and were able to learn something new!

Thanks for reading!

The History of Headbands

Happy New Year everyone!

For the first post of the year, I thought I'd do something fun....such as headbands!

But where did these fabulous accessories come from?

In the era of Ancient Greece, women would adorn their heads with wreaths and bands. Later, Romans added gold and silver to the headwear.

Later in the Victorian Era, headbands made a comeback after losing popularity for many years.
Because this era was so fond of adornment, the women would put combs and jewels in their hair. Floral bands were reintroduced during this time due to the Aesthetic Movement. (The original "flower children" or "hippies",)

 

   




And of course, the Roaring '20's. Headbands would be worn to tuck long hair under give the allusion that the woman had short hair, as that was the style. It was also worn just as an accessory.

  

 
And Blair Waldorf with all of her fabulous headbands!

 

Thank you for reading I hope you've enjoyed it!

Victorian Era Fashion

As previously mentioned, I'm going to dedicate this post to the fabulous Victorian Era!

The Victorian Era is definitely my favorite period in fashion, along with the 1940's.

For this post, I thought I would focus on the ball gowns and more iconic styles of this era.

            One thing the Victorian Era is known for is their elaborated fashion. The women’s dresses would be heavily draped with embroidered fabrics atop each other. Even the shoes would be bright, bold colors bedecked in jewels. A classic Victorian detail is that the skirts would be draped and scalloped to give the illusion of fullness while making the waist slim. Remind you of the 40's? :)

 This picture below shows larger scallops.     

                                               

These two pictures below show the layering and draping of fabric and the embroidery in the gowns.

                              

Most ball gowns during this time would have capped sleeves with a wide neckline, slightly exposing the shoulders.

And of course, where would a Victorian lady be without accessories? The usual embellished hat, umbrella, purse, and a small hand fan!

The Victorian Era is known for the fitted jackets which later came back in style in the 1940's.

The fabrics used in the Victorian Era were very elaborate and finely detailed as shown in this picture 

below.

  

This picture below is a modern take on the Victorian Era gown, which I absolutely love!

I hope you have enjoyed this post and come back for the next one!
Have a very Merry Christmas and take delight in the birth of our Savior! :)
"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, He is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

1940's Hair and Makeup

For this week I thought I would focus on the hair and makeup aspect of the 1940's.

Let's start with hair, shall we?

So, one of the most iconic hairstyles of the 1940's was introduced by actress Veronica Lane. It's known as the "Peek-A-Boo" hairstyle because one eye is showing while the other is hidden by hair. This hairstyle was worn for more glamorous events opposed to everyday life.

The more everyday look was very simple and ladylike. The hair would come around the shoulders in curls but be swept out of the face to show off the eyes but also for convenience purposes seeing as women started working and needed their hair out of their faces.

Another iconic hairstyle was the up-do. This could be an everyday look or a more glamorous look depending on how it was worn. Usually an up-do would be created with what were called "Victory Rolls" in honor of America's involvement in WWII. The rolls would start in the front and come together in the back.

On to makeup!

The everyday makeup in the 1940's mainly consisted of various powders, lipstick, mascara and nail polish. The 1920's and 1930's were both very glamorous decades but the 1940's was all about being feminine and beautiful in a natural way rather than an overly glamorous way as the previous decades were.

For further details, here a some fun makeup tutorials from the 1940's :) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibLQnWKsz-w 

Adorable, right?! :)

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it and come back for the next post!