Worth gown
Haute couture from the first fashion house: a silk gown with Worth’s name woven into the waistband.
Charles Frederick Worth showed finished designs that clients chose from and had fitted, instead of the dressmaker sewing to the client’s own ideas. That was the beginning of haute couture.
He sewed a label with his name into the garments, as an artist signs a painting. The label is today the surest way to recognise a garment from the house.
Materials: Silk, velvet, lace and beading
Manufacture: Made in the house in Paris after a model chosen by the client; the fabrics often came from Lyon.
A woven label in the waistband with Worth’s name and address.
Heavy, costly fabrics in large patterns, often woven for the house.
The shape follows fashion: crinoline, bustle or the slimmer line around 1880.