which I am the youngest of six. I lost my father to a stroke in July 2006. My mother is our rock in the family. She still lives in Franklin, Louisiana, and she is beautiful inside and out. All of my siblings reside in Louisiana, except for me. I live here, in Los Angeles, California. I don’t have any children, but I have a host of nieces and nephews that I love dearly. We enjoy family time throughout the year for Holidays, and for any other occasion.
Ceres: That’s wonderful! Since you are into fashion, let’s talk a bit about the Romantic Era’s dresses and style.
Rosalind: I’d like that.
Ceres: If we look at the fashion of the time, we have a bit of a change around 1840, where the style goes from high-empire waist dresses to a bell-shaped skirt with narrow waist and slopping shoulders. Would you have been comfortable wearing any of the two styles on daily basis?
Rosalind: I would be comfortable wearing either style, maybe not every day, but on some occasions. I do enjoy wearing various types of fashions. Though often used interchangeably, there are distinct and important differences between clothing, fashion, and style. For example, style describes the form of something, while fashion refers to prevailing styles
in terms of the style of specific features, such as high-
empire waist at the beginning of the 19th century or a bell-shaped skirt or a gathered sleeve. Let’s just say, if the style is currently popular, it is considered fashionable.
Ceres: Which one do you prefer?
Rosalind: I prefer the bell-shaped style with the
narrow waist as it adds elegance and prestige. I enjoy wearing high fashion clothing which stands
out, and the bell-shaped dress exemplifies that
with the sloping shoulders and the
low pointed waist.
Those skirts grew increasingly
voluminous
throughout the decade. At that time, evening dresses were often off the shoulders. It reminds me of my high-school prom dresses, which were much classier than what is being worn today.
Ceres: Don’t we see some updated versions of these two styles in the fashion industry nowadays, on the Red Carpet, for example? Why do you think?
Rosalind: I have seen similarities of both fashions on the Red Carpet today, as everyone wants to stand out and be different than the next person. From the Oscar's Red Carpet to the tabloids lining supermarket
Front cover & page 20: Rosalind wears a British Ball Gown (c. 1842). The dress shows the bell-shaped skirt, with the sloping shoulders and the low pointed waist. Credit: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum. Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/155675. Folding fan, source: LACMA m.78. 108.12a-b, and Estate Jewelry Vintage Ruby & Diamond Necklace, source: http://www.itshot.com/
Right: Rosalind wears an altered American Regency dress (c. 1820). The dress is a transition, progressively moving away from the ancient Greco-Roman style. Still keeping the high-waist, they were more colorful and more ornate. Original, credit: Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 1984. Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/82128. American/European culture bonnet (late 20’s). Credit: Gift of Mrs. E. Bushwick, 1940. Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/113968. Dutch Queen Hortense's Umbrella. Credit: Rueil-Malmaison, châteaux de Malmaison et Bois-Préau. Source: http://www.photo.rmn.fr/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&IID=2C6NU0446XSI. Early 19th century European reticule with metal clasp. Credit: Gift of Mr. Lee Simonson, 1944. http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/117299. Rosalind stands in front of a Eugène Delacroix painting titled: Horse Frightened by a Storm, 1824. PD.
Page 24 : Rosalind wears an Empire style silhouette or ancient Greco-Roman dress identified by its high-waist (1800–1805). Credit: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of the Jason and Peggy Westerfield Collection, 1969. Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/158252. The background is the château de Versailles Royal Chapel.
"Though often used interchangeably, there are distinct and important differences between clothing, fashion, and style."
22 | Ceres Magazine | Spring 2016