Worth: Inventing Haute Couture - Glorious clothing from an age of excess

Brianne Moore
Jul 30
5 min read

A couple of months ago, I stumbled across the news that the Petit Palais museum in Paris was hosting a retrospective of the House of Worth, which was THE place to go for glorious gownery in the Gilded Age. It's the largest gathering of Worth's work ever, and since the pieces are so delicate, it's unlikely to ever happen again. Did I swoon a bit? Yes, I did. And when I came to, my marvellous husband said: 'Well, why don't you go?'

So, that's how I found myself marching into the Petit Palais a couple of weeks ago, prepared to spend at least the next two hours with my jaw on the floor. (Do I have a couple of ideas for books set in the Gilded Age kicking around in my head? Yes, so I considered this research. Maybe I can claim the ticket on my taxes!)

It. Was. AMAZING. A collection of sketches, garments, photos, paintings, even newsreel footage (!!) and behind-the-scenes videos of the dresses being prepared for the exhibit. And the clothes - oh my God. These are some of the most stunning works of art I've ever seen rendered in textile, and you can't fully appreciate them in pictures. The fabrics! The detailing! The beading and embroidery and stitchwork and attention to detail! Am I gushing? Yes, and I don't care. I had no shame. I crouched down on the floor to examine hems. It was amazing. Voila:

Charles Frederick Worth established his eponymous house in the 1860s, during France's second empire. Worth's wife (who I definitely need to learn more about - I feel like there's an interesting book in her) made friends with the wife of the Austrian ambassador, who then provided an introduction to Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. And when the Empress started wearing Worth, everyone started wearing Worth. There were only a couple of pieces from this period, but look at these lovelies! The green one is for daytime - no train, good for walking (not that the woman who wore this probably did much walking. Not outside, anyway.). The white one is a court gown. Look at those lovely details in the bodice! And that rich satin - doesn't it just beg you to touch it?

Worth was a theatrical man who loved designing costumes (more on that later). From the earliest days of his house, he offered a variety of costumes which clients could order for quick delivery.

Costume designs by Worth — That snake one is unhinged, but I kind of love it anyway.

The French second empire didn't last, but Worth did, and in the bustle era, he really started to come into his own...

The tucks, the frills, the embroidery, the fringe, the SLEEVE DETAILS. The pearls on that first gown. (For any fans/nerds of this particular era, that top dress is a wedding gown made for a Schermerhorn bride - a relative of THE Mrs Astor.)

This was one of my favourite dresses:

For any quilters out there: that's appliqued velvet. All those leaves, those little curlicues up the edge of the skirt, the swags at the bottom: applique. I've done applique. It's satisfying (when it works), but fiddly and time consuming. Velvet is kind of a PITA to work with. Imagine the HOURS of effort that went into creating this one beautiful dress. (It doesn't show up in the photos, alas, but the edges and details on the leaves are picked out in gold thread. See what I mean when I say you can't fully appreciate these things unless you see them in person?)

Fascinatingly, the woman who owned this had her portrait painted while wearing the dress, and the portrait was hung nearby. The dress in the portrait is a completely different colour - more of an electric blue. Dyes were far less colourfast back in the 1870s, and the dye in this one has changed significantly.

There was also some crazy outerwear:

Two fringed late 19th century coats — Fringe Festival!

I'm not normally a fan of 1890s fashion (giant sleeves, nah), but the applique work on this jacket is beautiful:

Want this:

Silk gown with green underskirt and floral overskirt and bodice

And this!

I was so busy looking at the lace and the bodice detailing I almost missed the subtle branch-like tucking along the skirt.

This is what you wear to hang around the house with your girlfriends when you have stupid money:

Late 19th century tea gown in blue silk and lace

Late 19th century tea gown in dark red taffeta

In 1897, the Duchess of Devonshire held a costume party to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Guess who made some of the (best) costumes?

The beadwork! My God, the BEADWORK! And these were costumes, to be worn for ONE party! Imagine rocking up to your friend's next Halloween party in something like this!

So, by the end of the century, Worth was THE go-to guy for all your lavish dress needs.

Mary Curzon's court presentation gown:

More lovely, lovely things:

The pattern matching work on this one is fascinating to me. They had panels of the original fabric hanging up, so you could see that the pattern on the fabric is quite different from how it looks on the dress. They way they aligned the pattern (so perfectly!) gives it a completely different look and feel:

This is the 'Lily Dress', which is pretty famous, and rightly so. Another beautiful use of applique. Apparently when the time came to do restoration work on it for the exhibit, it had so many complex layers to it they actually had to X-ray the dress to get an idea of what they were dealing with!

The same woman who owned the Lily Dress had this one made for her to wear to her daughter's wedding. My immediate thoughts were: 'Beautiful dress' and 'what a bitch', because talk about upstaging the bride. (They had newsreel footage of the wedding party and guests leaving the church and she was definitely the most dressed-up person there.)

Still, though, beautiful dress! Look at the 3-D effect they gave the flowers with the sequins: