The Reign of the Lingerie Dress

In the book, The Perfect Lady, Willet C. Cunnington describes the period from 1900 to 1910 as the ‘reign of lingerie’, and indeed fashion magazines in these years, and especially in summer months, show many examples and variations of the so-called ‘lingerie dress’ – a style of dress adorned with embroidery, lace, pin tucks, ruffles and ribbons which was inspired by the chemise gown, as part of an eighteenth-century revival.

However, the first decade of   the twentieth century is also marked by a gradual yet radical change in fashionable body and dress, helmed by French couturier Paul Poiret. So while the style of the lingerie dress remained fashionable throughout this period, the proportions, waistline, hemline and sleeves were gradually transformed to reflect the change in taste.

The lingerie dress was worn at summer garden parties, the races, or at other promenade activities, as beautifully illustrated in a photograph taken by the beach in New York,1905. 

Figure 1: On the right a lingerie dress worn with shoes and belt in contrasting color; on the left, lingerie shirtwaist worn with bow tie in contrasting color. Women at the beach, 1905. Source: NYPL Digital Gallery, image ID 833235.

Fashion publications, like Harper’s Bazaar, gave readers detailed instructions and guidelines for reproducing Paris models at home. Just how dominant was this style, in an array of fabrics, and as many colors, is evident from the following excerpt from an article in Harper’s Bazaar, April 1909:

‘The lingerie dress is one of the most vitally important item of the summer outfit, and if it is to be embroidered by hand it must be begun early. The model shown here is suitable for handkerchief linens, muslins, and for thin silks, and will make a charming liberty silk gown for a youthful bride.’

Another example for the supremacy of the lingerie dress as the correct attire for socialising in summer afternoons appeared in the French publication Les Modes in April 1904 (below). The three ladies in the photograph, taken at the races, are all wearing lingerie dresses lavishly adorned with ruffles, embroidery and lace. Yet they are more formally dressed than the ladies on the beach, with matching long gloves, lingerie parasols and elaborate summer hats.

Figure 2: Correct attire for socializing at the races; lingerie dresses with matching long gloves, lingerie parasols and hats decorated with flowers, feathers and ribbons. Source: Les Modes, A4, N40. April 1904,  page 15.

A wonderful example that might have been worn on such occasion is at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. This afternoon dress, from the House of Doucet, dated by the museum 1900-1903, is a fine example of Doucet’s liking for pastel colors, delicate laces, ruffles and over-all lingerie-like style of dress. Jacques Doucet was one of the leading couturiers to emerge at the last quarter of the nineteenth century, along side Jeanne Paquin and the already established Charles Fredrick Worth. Doucet was an avid collector of eighteenth century art so it is only fitting that he would also take part in the revival of the chemise gown which was favored from the end of the seventeenth century and through the better part of the eighteenth century.

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