Fashion Dolls

As a little girl, I was enchanted by dolls. I only had two dolls to play with, but I also had a collection of dolls from around the world. Each time my father travelled for business, he would come home with a doll from the country that he visited. He took great delight in presenting the doll to me and I can still remember those moments in vivid detail.

Although today dolls are generally viewed as playthings, it wasn't always so. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, fashion dolls were used by dressmakers as a way of illustrating the latest styles to their potential clients. Dolls dressed in the latest Parisian styles were on display in fashionable shops along the rue Saint Honore and also sent monthly to London and to the courts of Europe. The dolls were considered "precious" and sometimes even had diplomatic immunity during times of war.

Although the most fashionable dolls originated from Paris, dolls were also made up in England and sent to the American colonies, where England was the dominant cultural influence.

The two wooden dolls shown in the photo are from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England and are known as Lord and Lady Clapham. (Although the Department of Textiles and Dress in the V&A has approximately forty dolls in their collection, only these two were on display when I visited in July 2008.) Dated from about 1695, Lord and Lady Clapham came complete with their accessories and the wooden chairs on which they sit.

Fashion dolls were popular until fashion plates and fashion journals became more established and widely accessible in the nineteenth century.

P.S. As a follow-up to Thursday's post about Aprons and Random Acts of Kindness, here is the list of winners:

Kelly of The Chic Geek
Judith of Studio Judith
Ms. Lucy of Enchanted by Josephine
Renee of Circling My Head

If you are a winner, please email me at artismylife@mac.com.

Fragile Fashion

Eugenia, copyright Ingrid Mida 2009
Mixed Media, 5x7 mounted

Amelie, copyright Ingrid Mida 2009
Mixed media, 5x7 mounted


Henrietta, copyright Ingrid Mida 2009
Mixed Media, 5x7 mounted

These are samples of some of my latest work now on display at Launch Gallery in Toronto. These tiny paper creations (approximately 2-3 inches mounted on a toile de jouey fabric background inside a shadow box) are made of paper, ribbon and beads.

By creating miniature paper clothing, the paper becomes a manifestation of the fragility of fashion and its place in history. In working at this small scale, I am emphasizing the precious quality of these beautiful historical garments.

Launch Gallery
410 Adelaide Street West (one block west of Spadina on north side), Toronto

Opening reception April 16th, 2009 7-10 pm
Hours: 12-5 pm Friday, April 17th to Sunday, April 26th, 2009
Artist in attendance Saturday, April 18th 12-3 pm

The Wardrobe of Queen Maud of Norway

While researching my last post about royal wardrobes, I remembered another beautiful exhibition of royal costumes and clothing that I saw at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2005. This spectacular exhibition was called "Style and Splendour" and featured the wardrobe of the stylish Queen Maud of Norway (seated on left of photo).

Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria was the youngest daughter of Edward, Prince of Wales and Alexandra, Princess of Wales, and granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Born in England in 1869, Princess Maud took after her fashionable mother with her slender figure and refined sense of style.

Married to Prince Carl of Denmark in 1896, Princess Maud left England to her new home in Copenhagen. After a vote in Norway in favour of a monarchy rather than a republic in 1905, her husband Danish Prince Carl was chosen to be King of Norway and Princess Maud became a Queen in 1906.

Maud lived through a period of tremendous change in fashionable dress for women, from the elaborate and decorative clothing of the Victorian age through to the light, simple dresses of the 1920s. The fact that her clothing was preserved in the Royal Dress Collection of Norway allowed a rare opportunity to see those changes in dress in person, instead of only by way of photos.

Given my penchant for historical fashion, my favourite piece was this fancy dress costume which Maud wore to the Duchess of Devonshire's Ball in 1897. This costume ball specified that the 700 guests wear allegorical or historical costumes dating to before 1815.

This pink satin dress was appliqued with silk and silver thread in a lattice pattern and adorned with silver sequins and glass beads. the lace collar and cuffs were machine made. The dress was made by Morin-Blossier in imitation of late sixteenth-century dress from the court of Marguerite.

Pink was one of Maud's favourite colours and there are many pink dresses in the collection, although she enjoyed jewel tones as well. These two evening gowns are dated from 1910-1913.



If you happen to be going to Norway, the National Museum of Art/Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Oslo has an ongoing exhibition (until December 31, 2010) of garments belonging to Queen Maud from the Royal Dress Collection.

Otherwise, there is a beautiful book by Anne Kjellberg and Susan North called "Style & Splendour: The Wardrobe of Queen Maud of Norway". The book is available from the Victoria and Albert Museum website.

Revisiting Marie Antoinette's Corset Rebellion

French iron corset, 1580-1600, collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute

When Marie Antoinette first arrived in the court of France, she was expected to wear the tightly laced grand corps. Not only was this corset very stiff and uncomfortable, it often "severely restricted its wearer's movements, especially around the arms" according to the Marquise de La Tour du Pin. Others reported side effects like "heart palpitations, asthma, vapors, and stinking breath".

With the oppressive heat of her first summer in France, Marie Antoinette abandoned her corset and went without. She was thin enough to do so but it caused outrage amongst the courtiers. This juicy gossip of MA's corset rebellion quickly circulated through the courts of Europe. It was said that: "Marie Antoinette's waist was growing misshapen, and her right shoulder out of kilter" (Comtesse de Noailles) and "one of the future queen's shoulder blades was more protruding than the other" (quote not attributed). (Source: "Queen of Fashion" by Caroline Weber, page 69).

I couldn't help but wonder whether Marie Antoinette may have had scoliosis, a curvature of the spine. With this condition, it is common for one shoulder to protrude or sit higher than the other. (I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was 13 and it was my uneven shoulders that was the first hint of a problem. I had to wear a steel corset not nearly as beautiful as the iron one shown above. I'm pretty sure that is why I have an obsession with corsets in my artwork and writing).

I suppose there will never be a definitive answer to this question since so few MA garments survived the scourge of the French revolution. But there was an apple-green bodice belonging to Marie Antoinette that still exists somewhere.

"An English lord touring Marie Antoinette's apartments after she and her family had been sent to jail asked to examine a bodice of hers that revolutionary loots had left lying on the floor. He explained to his puzzled French companions that he had long ago heard tales of the young woman's misshapen right shoulder--attributable to her avoidance of the grand corps--and was curious to see whether her bodice was padded to disguise the deficiency". (Source: Queen of Fashion by Caroline Weber, page 69). Weber does not reveal whether or not her apple green bodice was padded or not.

I'll have to do more research to find out. If anyone knows where this bodice is, please let me know. The credit that accompanies the photo of this apple green bodice in Weber's book reports the photo is from the NY Public Library but obviously they don't own the garment itself.