Happy New Year: 1826 and 1926 Dress Designs

 I do enjoy the difference that a century can make in clothing styles. Here's where we were 100 years ago:

Summer 1926 day dress, House of Paquin. From VAM.

And to the folks of 1926, this style was just as old as their clothing is to us:

Promenade Dress from Ackerman's Repository, January 1826. From LACMA.

It's interesting to reflect on these styles side-by-side. Both eras are playing around with waist-placement: the 1920s have dropped it to an all-time low near the hip, while the 1820s are also moving low(er) from decades of all-time-high waistlines under the bust. They're also at different stages of a major silhouette shift: Empire style of the late 1790s-1810s, like the "flapper" style of the late 1910s-1920s, are remembered as looser, shorter, and simpler styles which directly respond to (and reject) the more elaborate, structured, and formal designs of, respectively, the Ancien Regime and the pre-War/Edwardian period. But our 1926 dress is barely a ten years into its fashion revolution and shows that style in its full development, the 1826 one is nearly three decades into its silhouette, and the metaphorical pendulum is starting to swing back the other way. While the fur muff obscures the lowering waistline (which is creeping back towards the natural waist, allowing for structured bodices to make their return), we're also seeing more visual weight through the shoulders created by the double row of vandykes, as well as a wider, more bell-like skirt, stiffened by its wide fur hem. The trajectory is clear: Empress Josephine is out, and Empress Eugenie's on the (distant) horizon.