Milady’s Weekend Wear
“It must be admitted that a very large fraction of our time was spent in dressing and undressing. We were forever changing our clothes, a custom that necessitated travelling with a mountain of luggage” – Lady Cynthia Asquith (English writer and socialite)
Wickham Place is the London home of Lord and Lady Southgate, their children and staff. Located in fashionable Belgravia it is a fine Georgian terrace house.
Today we are in Lady Southgate’s dressing room, which is adjunct to her bedroom, where poor Newman, Lady Southgate’s Lady’s Maid, is pulling out her hair with frustration. Lord and Lady Southgate have accepted the invitation to stay with friends at their country house in Worcestershire, and even though it is only a ‘Friday to Monday’ weekend party, there is a panoply of outfits and accountments that Newman must pack for Her Ladyship to wear across those three days.
“What’s the point of coming up to London for the Season if you are going to spend half of it visiting friends at their houses all over the English countryside?” Newman mutters as she looks about her despondently at the mounds of luggage that will need to be neatly filled with Her Ladyship’s clothes.
Lady Southgate’s dressing room is situated on the third floor of Wickham Place. It is light and airy with an east facing window, so it gets the morning sun whilst Newman sets her mistress’ hair each day, and Lady Southgate applies beauty products to maintain her creamy complexion. The dressing room is a feminine preserve and its décor reflects that along with the current fashion for whites and pastel colours in boudoirs. The wallpaper is a fashionable Edwardian pattern of birds, butterflies and pink camellias on a pale green background. Feminine Rococo paintings hang on the walls in antique gilt frames. The room contains light coloured furniture including wardrobes full of her ladyship’s clothes, full length mirrors, a white upholstered settee, several occasional tables, a Japanese floral painted screen, a Chippendale style salon chair upholstered in cream satin and a walnut Regency dressing table: a gift to Lady Southbank from her husband.
This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.
This week the theme, “fur and feathers” was chosen by Margaret, The Pocket Rocket.
Lady Southgate’s trunks ready to be packed with sable stoles and feather adorned picture hats seemed the perfect choice for the theme. However, this upper-class boudoir scene is different, for it is made up entirely of 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures. Some pieces come from my own childhood including the tallboy at the back of the room. Other items in this tableau I acquired as a teenager and as an adult through specialist doll shops, online dealers and artists who specialise in making 1:12 miniatures.
Fun things to look for in this tableaux include:
The three Edwardian picture hats (yes there are three) are what inspired me to photograph this scene for the “fur and feathers” theme. The black hat on the settee I have had since I was a teenager, and it was one of the first 1:12 artisan pieces I ever bought. The green and camel coloured hats in the foreground were a recent acquisition from an American miniatures collector who was divesting herself of some of her collection. All three hats are 1:12 artisan miniatures, are made just like real hats and are often far more expensive than real hats are. When you think that these would sit comfortably on your index finger, yet they could cost in excess of $150.00 or £100.00 each, they are an extravagance. American artists seem to have the monopoly on this skill and some of the hats that I have seen or acquired over the years are remarkable. The black hat is made of woven straw dyed black and decorated with stiffened fans of black lace, black ribbon and feathers. The camel and green hats are both made of braid trimmed felt and are decorated with imitation fruit and flowers and hand dyed and shaped feathers.
The thick sable stole draped across the far end of the tallboy, near the tallboy, is actually a tail attached to one of my own vintage sable collars. I have artfully (with quite some planning and difficulty), placed it so you can only see the single tail, which is just the right size to be a luxurious stole for Lady Southgate!
The blue travelling case in the background and its matching hatbox in the foreground on which the camel hat is sitting are 1:12 artisan miniatures and made of blue kid leather which is so soft to the touch, and small metal handles, clasps and ornamentation. They have been purposely worn around their edges to give them age. The brown leather hatbox in which the green hat sits is also a 1:12 artisan miniature and unlike the blue pieces, it is made to open and be fully functional and has a cream satin lining. All three pieces come from Doreen Jeffries’ Small Wonders Miniatures in England.
The four furled umbrellas are all 1:12 artisan pieces made of silk, satin and lace. Three have metal handles, whilst the yellow lace one is made from a toothpick with a tip affixed to its end. Three come from England whilst the salmon coloured one with the black pagoda top came from the same collection as the camel and green hats.
The grey pair of gloves on the metal inlaid box in the foreground was bought from the same London Doll House stockist that the black hat came from and they were bought at the same time. They are made of leather and are artisan pieces, cut and fashioned by hand with nail scissors. The canary yellow pair of gloves on top of the blue case in the background are also artisan pieces and are made of kid leather and are so light and soft. They come from Doreen Jeffries’ Small Wonders Miniatures in England.
The purple white polka dot mules are hand painted 1:12 lead miniatures that came from the same American collection as the green and camel coloured hats and the salmon parasol. The black Edwardian high boot in the bottom left hand corner is made of resin and comes from a specialist stockist of 1:12 miniatures in England.
On the right-hand side of the picture, sitting on the white Queen Anne style settee, is Lady Southgate’s glittering travelling jewellery case which is hinged, and is lined with black velvet. It contains a sparkling array of her jewels ready for the journey. Draped over the seat of the settee is a sparking “amethyst” necklace made of tiny strung faceted purple beads and a silver chain.
On top of a black portmanteau are two corset boxes: a Baleinine corset from Paris and a Warner Brothers Coraline Health Corset from New York. The corset was an essential beauty aide for any Victorian or Edwardian woman. It was only with the invention of the Flapper in the 1920s, that corsets fell out of fashion. In the late Nineteenth Century, Dr. Lucien Warner, a prominent American physician gave up his practice to begin a new career on the medical lecturing circuit, specializing in women’s health issues. Dr. Warner lectured about the effects of the corset. After seeing how little influence his lectures had on women’s attitudes, he returned to his New York home and began a different approach to fighting the ills caused by the corset. In 1873, he designed a corset that provided both the shape desired by women and the flexibility required to allow some movement and reduce injuries caused by previous designs. The next year, Lucien Warner and his brother Dr. Ira De Ver Warner gave up their medical practices and founded Warner Brothers Corset Manufacturers. Dr. Warner’s Coraline Health Corsets were made up of two pieces of cloth which were laced or clasped together. These revolutionary undergarments also featured shoulder straps and more flexible boning and lateral bust supports made of Coraline, a product of the fibers of the Mexican Ixtle plant. The success of the Warners’ designs had made the brothers millionaires and in 1894 they retired and turned control of the company over to De Ver’s son and the Warner Brothers partnership was changed to a corporation. Warner\'s business was still doing well under the management of Dr.De Var\'s son. He even added new types of corsets: a rust proof corset, a combination corset, and even a hose supporter. In 1913 the company made seven million US Dollars in sales. Then in 1913 Warner Brother\'s bought the patent for the brassier from Mary Phelps Jacobs, and they ended up making twelve point six million US Dollars by 1920.
The black portmanteau on which the two corset boxes sit is in fact a black leather ring box with gold tooling.
In the background is a Chinese screen dating from the 1930s featuring hand-painted soapstone panels of flowers. It is framed lacquered wood and is remarkably heavy for its size. The reverse features Chinese scenes with mountains and pagodas. Next to it stands a 1:12 Dutch tallboy which I bought from Hamley’s Toyshop in London when I was twelve years old. On the far right on a table stands a 1950s Limoges vase filled with pink hydrangeas. The vase is stamped with a small green Limoges mark to the bottom. This treasure I found in an overcrowded cabinet at the Mill Markets in Geelong.
Milady’s Weekend Wear
“It must be admitted that a very large fraction of our time was spent in dressing and undressing. We were forever changing our clothes, a custom that necessitated travelling with a mountain of luggage” – Lady Cynthia Asquith (English writer and socialite)
Wickham Place is the London home of Lord and Lady Southgate, their children and staff. Located in fashionable Belgravia it is a fine Georgian terrace house.
Today we are in Lady Southgate’s dressing room, which is adjunct to her bedroom, where poor Newman, Lady Southgate’s Lady’s Maid, is pulling out her hair with frustration. Lord and Lady Southgate have accepted the invitation to stay with friends at their country house in Worcestershire, and even though it is only a ‘Friday to Monday’ weekend party, there is a panoply of outfits and accountments that Newman must pack for Her Ladyship to wear across those three days.
“What’s the point of coming up to London for the Season if you are going to spend half of it visiting friends at their houses all over the English countryside?” Newman mutters as she looks about her despondently at the mounds of luggage that will need to be neatly filled with Her Ladyship’s clothes.
Lady Southgate’s dressing room is situated on the third floor of Wickham Place. It is light and airy with an east facing window, so it gets the morning sun whilst Newman sets her mistress’ hair each day, and Lady Southgate applies beauty products to maintain her creamy complexion. The dressing room is a feminine preserve and its décor reflects that along with the current fashion for whites and pastel colours in boudoirs. The wallpaper is a fashionable Edwardian pattern of birds, butterflies and pink camellias on a pale green background. Feminine Rococo paintings hang on the walls in antique gilt frames. The room contains light coloured furniture including wardrobes full of her ladyship’s clothes, full length mirrors, a white upholstered settee, several occasional tables, a Japanese floral painted screen, a Chippendale style salon chair upholstered in cream satin and a walnut Regency dressing table: a gift to Lady Southbank from her husband.
This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.
This week the theme, “fur and feathers” was chosen by Margaret, The Pocket Rocket.
Lady Southgate’s trunks ready to be packed with sable stoles and feather adorned picture hats seemed the perfect choice for the theme. However, this upper-class boudoir scene is different, for it is made up entirely of 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures. Some pieces come from my own childhood including the tallboy at the back of the room. Other items in this tableau I acquired as a teenager and as an adult through specialist doll shops, online dealers and artists who specialise in making 1:12 miniatures.
Fun things to look for in this tableaux include:
The three Edwardian picture hats (yes there are three) are what inspired me to photograph this scene for the “fur and feathers” theme. The black hat on the settee I have had since I was a teenager, and it was one of the first 1:12 artisan pieces I ever bought. The green and camel coloured hats in the foreground were a recent acquisition from an American miniatures collector who was divesting herself of some of her collection. All three hats are 1:12 artisan miniatures, are made just like real hats and are often far more expensive than real hats are. When you think that these would sit comfortably on your index finger, yet they could cost in excess of $150.00 or £100.00 each, they are an extravagance. American artists seem to have the monopoly on this skill and some of the hats that I have seen or acquired over the years are remarkable. The black hat is made of woven straw dyed black and decorated with stiffened fans of black lace, black ribbon and feathers. The camel and green hats are both made of braid trimmed felt and are decorated with imitation fruit and flowers and hand dyed and shaped feathers.
The thick sable stole draped across the far end of the tallboy, near the tallboy, is actually a tail attached to one of my own vintage sable collars. I have artfully (with quite some planning and difficulty), placed it so you can only see the single tail, which is just the right size to be a luxurious stole for Lady Southgate!
The blue travelling case in the background and its matching hatbox in the foreground on which the camel hat is sitting are 1:12 artisan miniatures and made of blue kid leather which is so soft to the touch, and small metal handles, clasps and ornamentation. They have been purposely worn around their edges to give them age. The brown leather hatbox in which the green hat sits is also a 1:12 artisan miniature and unlike the blue pieces, it is made to open and be fully functional and has a cream satin lining. All three pieces come from Doreen Jeffries’ Small Wonders Miniatures in England.
The four furled umbrellas are all 1:12 artisan pieces made of silk, satin and lace. Three have metal handles, whilst the yellow lace one is made from a toothpick with a tip affixed to its end. Three come from England whilst the salmon coloured one with the black pagoda top came from the same collection as the camel and green hats.
The grey pair of gloves on the metal inlaid box in the foreground was bought from the same London Doll House stockist that the black hat came from and they were bought at the same time. They are made of leather and are artisan pieces, cut and fashioned by hand with nail scissors. The canary yellow pair of gloves on top of the blue case in the background are also artisan pieces and are made of kid leather and are so light and soft. They come from Doreen Jeffries’ Small Wonders Miniatures in England.
The purple white polka dot mules are hand painted 1:12 lead miniatures that came from the same American collection as the green and camel coloured hats and the salmon parasol. The black Edwardian high boot in the bottom left hand corner is made of resin and comes from a specialist stockist of 1:12 miniatures in England.
On the right-hand side of the picture, sitting on the white Queen Anne style settee, is Lady Southgate’s glittering travelling jewellery case which is hinged, and is lined with black velvet. It contains a sparkling array of her jewels ready for the journey. Draped over the seat of the settee is a sparking “amethyst” necklace made of tiny strung faceted purple beads and a silver chain.
On top of a black portmanteau are two corset boxes: a Baleinine corset from Paris and a Warner Brothers Coraline Health Corset from New York. The corset was an essential beauty aide for any Victorian or Edwardian woman. It was only with the invention of the Flapper in the 1920s, that corsets fell out of fashion. In the late Nineteenth Century, Dr. Lucien Warner, a prominent American physician gave up his practice to begin a new career on the medical lecturing circuit, specializing in women’s health issues. Dr. Warner lectured about the effects of the corset. After seeing how little influence his lectures had on women’s attitudes, he returned to his New York home and began a different approach to fighting the ills caused by the corset. In 1873, he designed a corset that provided both the shape desired by women and the flexibility required to allow some movement and reduce injuries caused by previous designs. The next year, Lucien Warner and his brother Dr. Ira De Ver Warner gave up their medical practices and founded Warner Brothers Corset Manufacturers. Dr. Warner’s Coraline Health Corsets were made up of two pieces of cloth which were laced or clasped together. These revolutionary undergarments also featured shoulder straps and more flexible boning and lateral bust supports made of Coraline, a product of the fibers of the Mexican Ixtle plant. The success of the Warners’ designs had made the brothers millionaires and in 1894 they retired and turned control of the company over to De Ver’s son and the Warner Brothers partnership was changed to a corporation. Warner\'s business was still doing well under the management of Dr.De Var\'s son. He even added new types of corsets: a rust proof corset, a combination corset, and even a hose supporter. In 1913 the company made seven million US Dollars in sales. Then in 1913 Warner Brother\'s bought the patent for the brassier from Mary Phelps Jacobs, and they ended up making twelve point six million US Dollars by 1920.
The black portmanteau on which the two corset boxes sit is in fact a black leather ring box with gold tooling.
In the background is a Chinese screen dating from the 1930s featuring hand-painted soapstone panels of flowers. It is framed lacquered wood and is remarkably heavy for its size. The reverse features Chinese scenes with mountains and pagodas. Next to it stands a 1:12 Dutch tallboy which I bought from Hamley’s Toyshop in London when I was twelve years old. On the far right on a table stands a 1950s Limoges vase filled with pink hydrangeas. The vase is stamped with a small green Limoges mark to the bottom. This treasure I found in an overcrowded cabinet at the Mill Markets in Geelong.