This insanely beautiful evening gown was part of Lucile’s debut American collection in 1910. The gown is made of voided velvet and was heavily influenced by the Orientalist craze of the early 1910s.
Doyle New York sold this gown at auction for $35,850 in 2004.
An absolutely gorgeous visiting gown and bolero jacket designed by Lucile in 1905.
A striking lilac opera gown entitle ‘Intention’, by Lucile, 1905.
A gorgeous purple visiting ensemble by Lucile, 1905.
This shockingly bright purple dress was designed by Vignon in 1869 or 1870. It is colored with a dye known as Aniline Purple or Mauveine.
Mauveine was the first synthetic organic dye. Chemistry student W. H. Perkin discovered it accidentally in 1856 while attempting to synthesize the malaria drug quinine. The dye soon caused an explosion of purple in the fashion world.
Since I was rambling a bit on my last post and couldn’t fit this in, I’ll just make this a Super Random Fun Fact! post.
The source of the gorgeous reddish-purple dye traditionally worn by royalty is the little bugger in the picture. A Mediterranean snail known by the scientific name of Murex brandaris. As the snail crawls along it excretes a purplish goo, that when dried and treated becomes the bright purple-red dye we are used seeing worn by Kings and Queens.
We’ve reached the end of the rainbow! Today is purple day! (Or indigo and violet day for the nitpickers :p)
Purple is a notoriously difficult color to achieve using natural dyes. It has a tendency to wash out and become pale or trend towards a more reddish color. Because of this most early purple garments were either not truly purple or if they were, they were very expensive and generally reserved for royalty. Hence ‘royal purple’ and ‘born to the purple’.
This lilac ball gown from circa 1820 is a good example of at the pale pastel purple that would result from weak natural dyes. It certainly has a beautiful effect on the gauzy fabric.
