Comments on: A Dress Of Spitalfields Silk https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/03/28/a-dress-of-spitalfields-silk-x/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Thu, 13 Jun 2019 10:12:50 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 By: Hannah https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/03/28/a-dress-of-spitalfields-silk-x/#comment-1292381 Thu, 13 Jun 2019 10:12:50 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=173300#comment-1292381 Dear Gentle Author,
A most interesting post from our point of view! We have published an adapted version (with your previous permission, of course, with our thanks) on our website:
https://www.brewershall.co.uk/public-news/a-dress-for-a-brewer/ .
The Brewers’ Company Archivist

]]> By: Marcia Howard https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/03/28/a-dress-of-spitalfields-silk-x/#comment-1276026 Fri, 29 Mar 2019 22:57:13 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=173300#comment-1276026 Exquisite and sumptuous – whether you like it or not. I can’t believe it can have been very comfortable to wear. An interesting story

]]> By: Connie Unangst https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/03/28/a-dress-of-spitalfields-silk-x/#comment-1275727 Fri, 29 Mar 2019 00:21:04 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=173300#comment-1275727 I forwarded to all my reenactor friends. I’ve never seen this gown before. It’s lovely, thanks for sharing this Spitalfield treasure. I love part where you explain the insides aren’t finished so great. That’s how I sew my gowns too. Lol

]]> By: Jen https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/03/28/a-dress-of-spitalfields-silk-x/#comment-1275700 Thu, 28 Mar 2019 22:42:23 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=173300#comment-1275700 Interesting post, interesting comments!

I was completely surprised to read ^^ that pattern-matching and interior finishing were not really a “thing” for this time–had the mental image of beautifully tailored garments, so wrong!

I am curious to see a photo or two of the inside of this garment, but doubt anyone has taken one. Maybe looks like the inside of some of the garments I’ve sewn, ha!

I wonder if, in addition to the garment being all about the presentation, less interior finishing was done because garments were often picked apart and refashioned, and interior finishing would 1) make deconstruction more time-consuming, and 2) possibly reduce the amount of recovered silk (just thinking about French seams, e.g., requiring a larger seam allowance which is then subject to the ravages of additional stitching, etc)?

Same for pattern-matching, perhaps, as it wastes so much fabric, especially for large-repeat designs, in addition to being very challenging and time-consuming.

My Claisse/Leman extended family (no, not THE Leman of Spitalfields silk design, as far as I can tell!) has one extant sample of Spitalfields silk that was passed down, currently in the possession of a descendant in New South Wales. It is a relatively unremarkable floral, not nearly so, er, lively as the exemplar in this post!

]]> By: Leeanne Westwood https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/03/28/a-dress-of-spitalfields-silk-x/#comment-1275670 Thu, 28 Mar 2019 20:46:47 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=173300#comment-1275670 I don’t think this dress is rediculous. Dresses like this were worn at formal state occasions long after they were deemed as fashionable. I think she would have been proud to pay homage to the trade that made her family’s and status – this of course was the time of the growing ‘trade’ class and their progression in to gentry. Portraits of her husband and son are about to go on display at Valence House Museum in a display about Parsloes Manor House.

]]> By: gkbowood https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/03/28/a-dress-of-spitalfields-silk-x/#comment-1275630 Thu, 28 Mar 2019 17:57:18 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=173300#comment-1275630 The weight must have been unbelievable- unbearable even! Perhaps, they slipped a stool underneath the vast skirt so she could prop herself up at the very least!

]]> By: Joanne Lukacher https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/03/28/a-dress-of-spitalfields-silk-x/#comment-1275609 Thu, 28 Mar 2019 16:55:30 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=173300#comment-1275609 Thank you for this most fascinating article. For readers who would like a similar story about the international dimensions of the material culture of Spitalfields silk, I recommend the book “Portrait of a Woman in Silk : Hidden Histories of the British Atlantic World” by Zara Anishanslin.

]]> By: Jill Wilson https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/03/28/a-dress-of-spitalfields-silk-x/#comment-1275595 Thu, 28 Mar 2019 16:18:15 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=173300#comment-1275595 Extraordinary dress, amazing workmanship and fabulous colours but it must have been a nightmare to wear!

]]> By: Rebecca Olds (Timesmith Dressmaking) https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/03/28/a-dress-of-spitalfields-silk-x/#comment-1275479 Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:46:43 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=173300#comment-1275479 Reply to Candida – the pattern pieces were pleated, not cut. Pleats were ubiquitous during this period and the English style court gown (as that’s what this is) were no exception. What I find remarkable about this one is the almost-perfect pattern matching in that pleated back. No mean feat, and notable in an age when pattern matching (as with finished interiors) was not really “a thing”.

]]> By: Candida Cook https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/03/28/a-dress-of-spitalfields-silk-x/#comment-1275413 Thu, 28 Mar 2019 06:44:52 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=173300#comment-1275413 Beautiful dress. and history: I am curious however that the stomacher and long skirt panels show the pattern cut, losing part of the embroidery. As a bespoke dress of that period, made for a one-off occasion of importance, I would have expected each panel to have been embroidered to fit…unless this was cut from lengths?

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