A worthy project

by PAULINE LISTER

An exhibition of Queen Maud's wardrobe at the V&A museum inspired
Jim and Brenda Jones to establish a new exhibition gallery
in Lincolnshire and recreate a Worth dress to display in it

Charles Frederick Worth
1825 -1895

In 1858 Charles Frederick Worth, born at Wake House in North Street, Bourne, trained in London and employed in France, opened a dress establishment in Paris and haute couture was born. He went on to dress the world's most famous women, from celebrities to royalty. Commissioned in 1860 to dress the Empress Eugenie (wife of Napoleon III) this artist offered a completely designed ensemble, which could be purchased like a picture or a vase. Queen Maud (daughter of Edward V11 and Queen Alexandra) enjoyed contemporary fashion and commissioned many of the great designers of the day such as Worth.

The team

Nearly one year ago the search was underway to find seamstresses capable of replicating one of the most stunning garments ever made. Worth's dresses are noted for his use of lavish fabrics and trimmings and his attention to fit. Standards of couture dressmaking and tailoring during Worth's working era were impeccable.

"What we needed was a small team skilled enough to copy one of his creations from a photograph. The task was daunting and yet has been rewarding because the volunteers have followed in the footsteps of the master and recreated his design for people to enjoy in the future," said Brenda Jones, chairman of Bourne Civic Society.

"I grew up with a needle and thread and was always trying to make something. Mum made all our clothes and grandma taught me to tack, crochet, and knit. I can also embroider and make lace. I always had a thing about the fact that Charles Worth was born in Bourne. When I saw Brenda's advertisement asking for help, I had to ring her. I have such enthusiasm for him," said receptionist Debbie Hallam.

"The romance of recreating an old costume grabbed my imagination. My passion is to sew. I have been sewing since I was seven years old. My mother had a treadle sewing machine and as soon as my legs were long enough to reach the pedal I began to sew. If the house caught fire I'd take the boys and my machine," added teaching assistant and tailoress Lesley Wade.

"I had some white silk brocade which had been the train from a 1930's wedding dress and felt that it should be used for something really nice. Knowing about the Worth project I began to look for pictures of his dresses and saw that the dress fabric for one of his creations was like the material I was keeping. I rang Brenda and was hooked. I have always loved beading and ribbon embroidery and my business sometimes involves repairing and mending quite fragile clothes," said ceramics and stained-glass artist Claire Hart who also buys and sells vintage fashion.

Together they have made a replica of an off-white silk faille visite (originally made in about 1885 by Worth), which was a type of coat considered fashionable in combination with the bustle style. It has an opening to accommodate the projecting back of the skirt, which has a long train. The extremely complex and finely detailed decorations for such a design were concentrated at the back to emphasise the design of the bustle. It has braid and bead trimming. Pinning the braid onto the jacket took a whole day.

"My main contribution has been finding the materials for the trimmings and beading so that the finished product looks as authentic as possible. I knitted the collar and muff, which are made of fur on the original dress, but we have used wool. There was quite a bit of detective work to get the right colour match for the braid which seems to be used in upholstery nowadays more than in dress making." said Debbie.

Each contributor has a number of qualifications in needlework and textiles and has an interest in the history of fashion. Essentially they are highly skilled and consequently, able to work from a photograph and not a working drawing. They copied a creation, which Charles Worth would have designed himself by putting pen to paper. "We have brought one of his dresses back to life, which is a touch spooky," said Lesley who did the pattern cutting.

"It is really hard to work out what the shapes are when they are flat. I found a wonderful book called 'The Cut of Women's Clothes from 1600s to 1900s' which has been my bible for this project. I had five goes at cutting out the pattern; trying it on the mannequin each time and then I made a toile in calico. It is really clever the way he got the shape and cut and where the darts are. None of them are in a standard place. The silk brocade skirt which is worn with the jacket was made in the same way," said Lesley.

"Worth certainly was not a fan of less is more because the detail on his dresses is beyond belief. It was about taking fashion ten stages further than anyone else had done," said Claire who researched the project, made the bustle and collected pieces of Victorian costume for the exhibition.

The team is planning to make another replica dress later this year using velvet.