Ottoline~ ready for her close-up

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"I took great delight in attiring, fine dress and fashions, especially such fashions as I did invent myself, not taking that pleasure in such fashions as were invented by others; also I did dislike that any should follow my fashion, for I always took great delight in a singularity, even in accoutrements." MLC

Lady Ottoline Morrell encouraged her friend Virginia Woolf to include the Duchess of Newcastle-Margaret Lucas Cavendish-in Woolf's The Common Reader. Woolf's description of the Duchess: generous to a fault, her desire for knowledge and her longing to be the best of friends, also seems to have described Lady Ottoline Morrell perfectly. More than anything- both the Duchess and Ottoline shared a penchant for unconventional fashion:flamboyant, eccentric, romantic. For Ottoline all these similarities were familial, the 17th writer-poet Margaret Cavendish was  Ottoline's famous ancestor. Margaret Cavendish wrote the words about her "fashions as I did invent myself", but they could easily have been written by Ottoline Morrell.

Ottoline's bearing- striking at six feet ,and her fantastical fashions,were inspiration for countless novels in her day. As Virginia Woolf recorded elegant Ottoline's appearance- it was something akin to a mermaid, "red-gold hair in masses, cheeks as soft as cushions with a lovely deep cromson on the crest of them, and a body ... swelling, but smooth." As the Lady aged, her appearance was said to have taken on a caricature of her younger self, Woolf's nephew Quentin Bell still said of Ottoline ( at age 60) that there was still 'something sexy 'about her which fascinated him. She was 'that fantastic Baroque flamingo.'

'a tall, slow, reluctant woman with...a pale, long face, wearing eccentric garments in luxurious fabrics(probably by Fortuny).' from D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love'

'her voice, her laughter, were deep and masculine..Everything about her was manly . She had a large, square, middle-aged ace, with a massive projecting nose and little greenish eyes, the whole surrounded by a lofty and elaborate coiffure of curiously improbably shade of orange ' from Adolous Huxley's Crome Yellow.

Her striking gowns were born in her imagination. She expressed herself in her dress- regardless of the fashions in vogue of the day. The historic costume lines she wore made her stand out and drew people to her. As fashions changed in the 1900's and onward, Ottoline's dress looked even more eccentric. While Lady Ottoline was head designer the creator-seamtress of most of the dresses was her devoted maid Benty. Benty was master of adapting the dresses Ottoline found in paintings as she traveled extensively. In a bit of costuming, Benty would tack hems & skimp on seams. It was the Lady along with precious period fabrics that made the dresses striking. The embellishments of Ottoline and Benty's embroidery added the finer details to their latest creations.

In  1928 Cecil Beaton photographed Ottoline in her signature pearls-once belonging to Marie Antoinette- and a dress
 taken from the Goya manner of the 18th century style- in a vivid yellow (a favourite Ottoline colour) embroidered with mauve and silver flowers. Juxtaposing the period frock are a Dufylike textile backdrop and a Cubist fan.

the dress 

all photographs of Ottoline Morrell by Cecil Beaton

The Lady Ottoline Morrell collection was purchased in March 2000 by the Museum of Costume, Bath, with a grant from the National Art Collections Fund, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Museums & Galleries Commission / Victoria & Albert Museum Purchase Fund
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Delighting in the Details

The first six of these embroidery details are from 18th and early 19th century “pockets” that were gathered from museums throughout the UK and comprise the online archive called ‘Pockets of History.’
The ‘Pockets at the V&A’ site explains that “women's pockets weren't sewn on the outside or into the seams of their clothes as they are today. Until the middle of the 19th century, pockets for women were a separate item and they were worn tied around with waist with a tie or string.”

It’s a fascinating bit of fashion/textile history that you can learn more about at the two sites above. Most compelling to me, however, were the close-up images of the sumptuous stitching. Truly glorious color and variety.

in an Elizabethan Garden

"For if delight may provoke men's labour,

what grater delights is than to behold the earth apparalled with plants

as with a robe of imbrodered works,

set with orient pearles and garnished with great diversitie of rare and costly jewels."

-John Gerard's dedication to Lord Burghley from his book

a beloved book , THE ART OF DRESS Clothes and Society 1500-1914, is the best single source for all things in Fashion. Written by Jane Ashelford and published the National Trust, it is an amazing compendium of scholarly knowledge, but written with the most divine details - little bits about the garments worn and the people that wore them. I've corresponded with Jane and found that the book will be reissued in August. Get yourself a copy, You won't regret it.

I am fascinated by the grand Elizabeth R- and no less fascinating is this glorious dress worn in the portrait by and unknown artist for Hardwick Hall. What fascinates me is the beautiful depictions on the skirt. The Elizabethans used motifs of nature in abundance and the white satin skirt is the piece de resistance of this love of nature.

Elizabeth R
The Hardwick Portrait by Nicholas Hilliard

According to Jane- at one time the skirt was thought to have been painted- now consensus is that the needle was the brush that created this masterpiece. Apparently this garden is embroidered and its intricate stitchery overseen by Bess of Hardwick. Bess is likely to have put her own embroidery skills to work on the fantastical skirt. The costume was a gift for the Queen on New Year's Day. Interestingly- both male and female servants at Hardwick were schooled in the art of embroidery-so it is easy to imagine them with heads bent, working the magnificent white satin into a virtual natural world for the Queen.

Bess of Hardwick

*Satin Gauntlet embroidered with silk and metallic thread, purland spangles, trimmed with silk ribbon and silver-gilt bobbin lace…English c. 1600-1625Fashion in DetailSeventeenth and Eighteenth CenturyAvril Hart and Susan North*

image from Trouvais

The botanicals and beasts on the garment would have been studied and rendered from the book : The Herball or General Historie of Plants by John Gerard and published in 1597.

(pages from the work below)

the skirt in detail

There are many and most All recognizable animals and floral specimens. The Pansy- one of the flowers depicted- was a favorite with Elizabeth and appeared on many of her clothes. Other specimens: Eglantine Rose, the Iris, Cowslip, Columbine, Strawberry & Pomegranates .

an example of the embroidery of the period.

From the Animal Kingdom: the swallow, crocodile , the spider, moth, crane, the whale, shark, the serpent and a fierce dragon.

What is in your Elizabethan garden?