I did find a few more examples of a the tablier style covered in beads. But I need to explain what a tablier is.
It means apron. But it is important to understand what an apron in fashion in the natural form and sencond bustle era looked like. It was plain and pulled back. So it’s basically a plain skirt front as opposed to one covered in drapery or rushing etc.
There was some exploration of asymmetry of these overlayers of beaded silk especially when on a delicate fabric.
I adore these oversized pearls on thin silver beaded loops. Some of the other gowns how tassels and loops made from matching pearl beads (see garment immediately to right), but this is quite a statement.
And then we come to the two Sunburst gowns. Worth regularly repeated his designs, with some adjustments based on the new client.
This just happens to be a very obvious copy due to the single large stylised motif across the entire skirt. These just stand out a mile away! These do also make use of cut work and so perhaps represent an early start to the later gown with heavy use of cutwork. They certainly show more in character and line to the vertical plant motifs than the layers of net and beads.
And that seems to have lead to experimentation with full skirt length motifs.
(BTW that shape of the wheat sheaf gown is well represented in other garments Worth created especially in velvet or fabric a la disposition.)
And what can we say about this gown that has not already bean said:
Still no luck tracking down the book so I went looking on Worldcat
So this allowed me to look for a book published between 1970 and 1996 (the year I know I saw it) that is about wedding dresses and probably by a museum. I though Museum of London based on the format I had in my head but well:
Wedding dress : 1740-1970
Author: Madeleine Ginsburg; Victoria and Albert Museum.
Publisher: London : H.M.S.O., 1981.
Edition/Format: Print book : National government publication : English
This sounds like the puppy!!!. And it is still available at the library I know it was from. And I recall the production I was in that caused the book to be at a rehersal:
Trial By Jury! Yes, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta about a bride and with all her bridesmaids in tow! I then requested a whole lot of other useful book s 🙂