Fashioning the Artist: Artistic Dress in Victorian Britain 1848-1900
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Calvert, Robyne Erica (2012) Fashioning the artist: artistic dress in Victorian Britain 1848-1900. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3279/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Fashioning the Artist: Artistic Dress in Victorian Britain, 1848 - 1900 Robyne Erica Calvert Master of Arts, MLitt Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of PhD Department of History of Art School of Culture and Creative Arts University of Glasgow March 2012 © Robyne Erica Calvert, 2012 2 Abstract My research comprises a study focused on Artistic Dress circa 1848-1900, presenting a roughly chronological survey that seeks to further our knowledge on its development, varied manifestations, and influence, both during its time and on subsequent fashion trends. While Artistic Dress is a category that is acknowledged in the current literature on fashion history, it has had limited and at times conflicting treatment. It is most often employed to describe sartorial codes in which significant arts practitioners and patrons—particularly those associated with Pre- Raphaelitism, the Arts and Crafts Movement, Aestheticism, and Art Nouveau—wore (and at times designed and promoted) clothes that were frequently labelled in contemporary literature as ‘artistic’ or ‘aesthetic’. These descriptors designated such clothing to be of a unique and creative calibre, but also outside the norm. As such, it has been a subject of interest for art and fashion historians, but usually only approached marginally within the scope of larger studies on related artistic movements, or within studies of larger fashion histories on nineteenth century dress and/or Dress Reform. This thesis offers a closer examination of Artistic Dress than has previously been undertaken. The methodology for this research was to compile a history of the phenomenon of Artistic Dress derived from relevant primary source material, including (where possible) actual clothing, images (photographs and paintings), and text (correspondence, memoirs, and periodicals) related to selected ‘artistic dressers.’ Through this, I hope to identify whether there are in fact differences in the aforementioned related terms, and whether we might be able to position Artistic Dress as an umbrella term that is the most appropriate classification for the alternative sartorial trends found in artistic circles in Victorian Britain, offering a solution to this terminological quandary in dress history. It is hoped that in clarifying this term, other styles such as Aesthetic Dress and Reform Dress—and their relation to artistic practice—may be better understood. In this way, it is intended that this research will enrich the body of knowledge in the areas of both the History of Fashion, and of British Visual Culture. 3 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................ 3 List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Acknowledgements & Dedication .................................................................................................... 15 Author’s Declaration ......................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter One: Introduction ................................................................................................................ 19 Review of Key Literature ............................................................................................................. 20 Terminology ................................................................................................................................. 25 Art and Artistic ......................................................................................................................... 25 Aesthetic Movement and Aestheticism .................................................................................... 26 Aesthetic Dress, Pre-Raphaelite Dress, Dress Reform ............................................................ 26 Dress, Fashion, Style, and Sartorial ......................................................................................... 32 Personae (and Artistic Personae) .............................................................................................. 33 Pre-Raphaelite and Pre-Raphaelitism ....................................................................................... 33 Contribution to Knowledge, Methodology, and Approach .......................................................... 33 Scope and Limitations .................................................................................................................. 38 Chapter Structure .......................................................................................................................... 40 Chapter Two: Early Artistic Dress (ca. 1848-1860) ......................................................................... 42 Victorian Women’s Fashion at Mid-century ................................................................................ 44 What is Pre-Raphaelite Dress? ..................................................................................................... 47 Elizabeth Siddal ............................................................................................................................ 52 Early Male Artistic Dress: ‘Sartorial Disregard’ .......................................................................... 58 G.F. Watts and the Holland Park Circle ....................................................................................... 60 Chapter Three: Artistic Dress and Second Wave Pre-Raphaelitism (ca. 1860-1870) ...................... 66 Towards Couture: Victorian Women’s Fashion in the 1860s ...................................................... 66 Manly Modes: Gentleman, Bohemian, and Dandy ...................................................................... 70 ‘Pattledom’: Respectable Bohemia .............................................................................................. 77 (‘Uncrinolined’) Women in White ............................................................................................... 81 Jane Morris at Tudor House ......................................................................................................... 85 Artistic Dress and Second-wave Pre-Raphaelitism ...................................................................... 89 Chapter Four: Artistic Dress and the Rise of Aestheticism (ca.1870 – 1880) .................................. 90 Artistic Dress ‘At Home’ .............................................................................................................. 92 Godwin on Dress .......................................................................................................................... 97 Whistler the Modiste .................................................................................................................. 103 Artistic Dress and Society .......................................................................................................... 108 4 Chapter Five: The Artistic Dress Debate (ca. 1880 – 1890) ........................................................... 116 Mrs Haweis and The Art of Dress .............................................................................................. 119 1882 ............................................................................................................................................ 124 William Morris and ‘The Lesser Arts of Life’ ....................................................................... 126 Hamilton’s ‘Aesthetic Movement’ and Defence of Wilde ..................................................... 128 The Helpful Advice of ‘The Magazine of Art’ ...................................................................... 131 Mrs Luke Ionides’ Artistic Dress ........................................................................................... 135 Artistic Dress & Dress Reform ................................................................................................... 136 The Thornycroft Gown: a Liberty Dress? .................................................................................. 142 Whistler & Wilde ........................................................................................................................ 145 Public and Private Views ............................................................................................................ 150 Chapter Six: Healthy and Artistic Dress (ca. 1890 – 1900) ............................................................ 152 Liberty’s