stylewatch: nineteen-teen-age dream

  

there is a period of fashion that has been severely overlooked, at least by me.
i've been watching the british drama, downton abbey, which takes place in the 1910s. it starts at the time of the sinking of the titanic and the first series ends with the start of the first world war. first of all, it is full of delicious english drama and lovely accents. but, more importantly, the fashion is awesome. i've never even thought about the dresses from this period, but i've decided that i probably should have been born in this time so i could wear these amazing outfits and still have at least a little bit of feminine freedom, if you know what i mean.
the styling basically allows you to combine the pomp and circumstance of modern day britain (think intricate beading and royal wedding hats. images to follow.) with simple, sophisticated lines and fabrics.

let's look at the evidence, shall we?

these are the kinds of things my summer wardrobe should include. i'm going to get on that asap.

gorgeous--amazing braid detail, black and cream (which i obviously love), huge detailed hat, gloves.

if i had this dress i would wear it everyday. 

that choker is to die for. and that sentence is not uttered very often.

the appeal is multi-faceted. first, as i have indicated, i think the clothes are fabulous and beautiful. i usually can't get enough beads and sheer overlay. second, they look relatively easy to wear, i.e. you don't have to be bound in a corset or bogged down by masses of fabric. third, it just shows that modesty can be alluring and fashionable. most of today's fashions are either barely-there or overly-there, like, modest, but ugly and un-chic. but just because your shoulders are covered and your skirt touches the floor doesn't mean you can't still look great. (this is another lesson that the duchess of cambridge taught the world. hopefully it sticks.)

so, i'm drooling over the downton abbey costumes and wishing i had been a young lady coming of age in the nineteen-teens. and can we just talk for a minute about how awkward that construction is? nineteen-teens? i guess i could say nineteen-tens, but i think nineteen-teens also does the job. the whole decade is just kind of weird, and here we are right back in it. but, really, if anybody wants to buy/make me a dress modeled after this time period, feel free. memorial day, that classic gift-giving holiday, is coming up.