They harboured a palpable fear of ‘boredom’ and detested ‘idleness’, yet all they were permitted to do was along the lines of those two words. So they decided that they needed something that gave meaning to everyday and occupied so much time that they were never bored nor idle.
Many, many, many… many, many….. many decades ago, women spent almost 10 out of 24 hours in simply dressing up! They changed outfits three times a day – in the morning, for afternoon tea and for dinner again. And each time it was an uncovering and re-layering of underclothing, corsets, bustles, stays, chemises, gowns – not to mention elaborate hair-dos with headgear and hats, caked on make-up and jewels!
However, over the years, fashion has evolved, clothing simplified (though we women still take our own sweet time getting dressed up :p) and there are rare occasions upon which the history of fashion is revisited. Yes, of course at costume parties but also at horse-races where artistic hats, pretty dresses and gowns make an appearance.
And I always been enthralled by it all.
So, I decided to create an outfit that is a modern interpretation of those elaborate fashion statements from the past.
