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Dressed: The History of Fashion
Dressed Diaries: Margaine-Lacroix’s "Dare to Bare" Gowns of May 18th, 1908
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- [00:01]
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- [01:01]
Cassidy Zachary
The History of Fashion is a production of dressed media. With over 8 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common. Every day, we all get dressed.
- [01:15]
April Callahan
Welcome to the History of Fashion, a podcast that explores the who, what, when of why we wear. We are friends, fashion historians, and your hosts, April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary.
- [01:30]
Cassidy Zachary
Hello dressed listeners, and welcome to the first episode in a new reoccurring series called Dressed Diaries, which we're very excited to bring you this season. So every time you see that prefix on an episode, you can expect us to transport you back in time using primary sources. So something like a contemporary newspaper article or an article from a magazine, a personal journal or diary. And each of these episodes is going to highlight one significant fact, fascinating and often controversial event straight from the pages of fashion history.
- [02:00]
April Callahan
As fashion historians, our passion for fashion's past is really fueled by the invaluable contemporary sources that we constantly look to in our research. Time and time again in our research, we come across materials made all the more interesting because they paint a picture of a bygone era with a distinctive language and a unique perspective by the author who lived in a time that we can only now imagine. And Cass, I do not know at this point and how long we have been friends and also business partners and collaborators, which is now, I don't know, bordering on something like 15 years. But how many times have I texted you saying look at this period source that I just found.
- [02:42]
Cassidy Zachary
Oh yeah, we were just having a conversation about it just now before we got on here. You were telling me about how schiaparelli and Lee Miller are friends and that's something we just found out, or you just found out from a primary source photograph.
- [02:54]
April Callahan
Yes, unfortunately with us.
- [02:56]
Cassidy Zachary
But there's so many tidbits of information out there that we're constantly coming across. It's one of our favorite things to do. And a love for primary source research is what actually brought me to this profession. And it has always been my absolute favorite part about what we do and trust and not something that we get to do that often anymore on the show because we've really spent a lot of time the past few years hardly highlighting the incredible research of our many peers.
- [03:22]
April Callahan
Yes, we love to do interview episodes. It's amazing. That also gives us the chance to read other authors books and go see their exhibitions and give them a voice. We're still going to continue to do that, but we also want to carve out some more space for us to tell the stories from our own research. So this new series, much like Fashion Scandals, which launched season eight of Dressed Dress Diaries, are going to be a way for us to return to our roots and to the archive, something we hope you enjoy digging into as well.
- [03:54]
Cassidy Zachary
And we also will get to meet some of fashion's hidden figures, which is certainly the case with today's episode. And while this episode is technically not the fashion scandal moniker, it certainly could be. And that is because clothing's inherent power to provoke really serves as the centerpiece of today's very first Dress Diary entry, for which we are going to travel back in time well over 100 years, to May 18, 1908, to a lovely spring day in Paris when the reported arrest of three models, or mannequins, as they were known in France, at Longchamp Racecourse made international headlines.
- [04:31]
April Callahan
And before we dive into the first ever Dress Diary, we should probably set the scene, because at this time, the racetrack was a really popular pastime and the meeting ground for elite European and American society alike. It was essentially a place to see and be seen. If you were going to go out and wanted to be seen, this is where you're going to go. So at the dawn of the 20th century, enterprising fashion designers such as Jean Paquin and Lucille Lady Duff Gordon really recognized the potential of this venue as a promising and fairly low stakes taste testing ground and advertising vehicle for launching their newest designs. Pecan and Lucille were just two of the designers who would choose to launch their new creations at the races, and this often included some of the more cutting edge designs weeks or months before they ever debuted in a collection if they even made it into the collection at all based on their reception. And this became a pretty established practice, so much so that arguably the novel fashions were just as big of an attraction as the horses themselves. And Cas, you've heard me say this before. This is where that term fashion horse comes from.
- [05:48]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes. Or clothes horse. Yes, I was actually going to ask you about that because I couldn't remember and I couldn't find the source that confirmed that, but yes, that's what I thought too.
- [05:57]
April Callahan
Yeah. And so today, basically, we're going to cover an event that was immortalized for all of us and numerous newspaper articles, cover stories and photographs and cast. You're going to tell us more about that.
- [06:10]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah. And so part of this coverage included a fantastic article that's going to be the cornerstone of today's episode. And the article appears in the New York Times a few days after the event we are going to be discussing today. And the New York Times really reported on it in quite some detail. Horses ceased to be the chief attraction at Longchamp, that most Parisian of race courses yesterday afternoon when three charming young women dressed in the latest creations of Paris passed through the gate of the reserved enclosure. They were evidently mannequins, professional beauties hired by a great dressmaking establishment to launch new styles. There are always many quote, unquote, mannequins at Longchamp, graceful, distinguished and utterly chic. But these three were a class apart. They were not only gracefully and generally good looking. I hope someone calls me generally good looking sometime. They were not only graceful and generally good looking, they were clad in a way that made even Parisians stare. They wore Directoire costumes.
- [07:16]
April Callahan
So just a brief interjection here with a bit of history and context, the first being that quite quote, unquote, costumes is being used here, as we might say ensemble today. Not a costume in the Halloween dress up Mardi Gras or fancy dress, as the Brits might say. But this use of the term costume in this way was really commonplace at this time. So it was just meeting clothes in general. And two, Directoire was the name given to a new silhouette that was just coming into 20th century fashion because it referenced fashion history's own past, specifically the styles worn during the late 18th century, the Directoire or Directory period in France, which directly followed the French Revolution. So during this period, women's fashion consisted of gowns, or high fashion, we should say, consisted of gowns that flowed from a high waistline that was situated just below the wearer's bust. And this entire silhouette was A reference to antiquity, the silhouettes of antiquity in ancient Greece and Rome. So this style continued into the 1810s, the period of Napoleon's empire, or empire, which is how we get that different pronunciation of the empire or the empire waist. And this is a fashion term that we still use today.
- [08:41]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes. And then fast forward from the early 19th century to the early 20th century, the dawn of the 20th century, and French designers were experimenting with reintroducing a version of this high waisted Directoire era silhouette back into women's fashion. And this was happening at a time that is dominated by that very distinctive est ben silhouette that we all know and love, which emphasized this artificial hourglass silhouette supported by bone corsetry and petticoats. And French haute couturier Jeanne Pequin really leads the way in introducing this new line into fashion. She does this as early as 1906. And we see photographs of models wearing her designs in both the French fashion magazine Les Modes and at the racetracks. And the models are clearly still corseted. And there are layers of petticoats that support these dresses. But that waistline of the dress is heightened. It's below the wearer's bust, and then these skirts flow freely from below it. So really, it is a stark contrast to that espen silhouette that we most identify with that era.
- [09:41]
April Callahan
Paquelle was certainly one of the earliest champions of this Directoire silhouette, but she was not alone. By March of 1908, the New York Times reported, quote, unquote, a strong effort made by Parisian couturiers to introduce Grecian effects has been manifesting for the past year, end quote. And then an article the following month called a, quote, neo Greek Model the Dress of the Future, end quote. And it is an inversion of the Dress of the future that our three mannequins appeared in Longchamp on that very fateful day of May 18, 1908. And while these quote unquote, neo Greek dresses were considered cutting edge, it would appear that. That it was a future that people had already been primed for, if the New York Times coverage was to be believed. So, Cass, what exactly made these dresses of our three Longchamp beauties so scandalous? Notable. Why are we doing this episode today?
- [10:41]
Cassidy Zachary
So for that answer, we're going to turn back to our primary source article, which reports that the dresses were April, extremely clingy and supple in white, dark blue and Havana brown, and still in the direct tour style. The long, close fitting skirts were split up the side to the height of the knee. However, this article assures us that there was nothing scandalous about it. And they're talking about the slit just a trifle ose. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but maybe like a little scandalous, but not very scandalous. Anyways, this article assures us that beneath the outer skirt there was a clinging nether garment in the softest and lightest of silk muslins. She who was in dark blue had this undergarment of pale pink. She who was in white showed black beneath, and the Havana brown one showed russet. And so we're talking about the material under slit. There were other direct to our gowns on the paddock, but they escaped notice. They were not so indiscreetly clinging, nor was their color so notable. End quote.
- [11:37]
April Callahan
I love the color palette of this. Right. You know, immediately when I read this quote, it reminded me of how sometimes Charles James would layer the colors in his dresses. Yeah, anyway. But these dresses today would be considered particularly modest. Right? These mannequins, these models were covered from neck. They flowed in one uninterrupted line from the bust to the waist to the hips, and a sort of bell shaped skirt flowed out. But what no doubt earned all these dresses, all of this attention, was that they more or less revealed women's natural bodies underneath. And we have to remember this is 1908, right? So everyone is quite used to women being corseted. All these layers of corset and petticoats, what was always underneath? That is more or less on view.
- [12:30]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, yes, yes. And when you look at these images, you can actually see the model's hips, you can see the outlines of their thighs. And one source we read said that dresses were so tight you could even see their belly buttons. And again, as April just said, you know, used to corsets and layers of petticoats, you never would have seen a woman's body at this time. And then you pair this with this slit at the back of the sleeves, and of course it's filled in with an underskirt of fabric. But that fabric was sheer. It was incredibly delicate and light. A fabric that might have been typically reserved for lingerie. And so this essentially gave the impression that the viewer was peeking underneath the wearer's dress.
- [13:08]
April Callahan
Needless to say, the dresses were incredibly sexy and must have been quite shocking at a time when the corset really did still reign supreme. But being sexy wasn't necessarily a crime, Cass. And I guess everyone here is dying to know because we mentioned at the top of the episode but were these women really arrested?
- [13:29]
Cassidy Zachary
So back to our article for that answer, which, quote, as it was, an interested escort of about 200 persons immediately formed behind the graces from the Rue de la Paix and, of course, dress listeners. The Rue de la Pa is Paris's famous luxury fashion street. So this is a reference to them being fashion models from an haute couture house. So 200 people, quote, followed them about with embarrassing attention by and by the police, gallantly inspired, broke up the crowd of followers and gave a general order to circular. So keep walking, people. And this gave rise to the reports that the mannequins had been arrested. Mannequins are a privileged class in Paris, necessary and. And decorative in the city's commercial life. The report, of course, was baseless. So apparently the answer is no, they were not arrested. And according to the special police commissary who was quoted for this article and responsible for, quote, the good order and repute of Longchamp, the women's appearance wasn't in the least bit scandalous. He told the New York Times that, quote, the idea of disturbing the young woman had never entered his head. And there was not the slightest protest from anyone, nor even the hint of it. Everyone had his word to say, and to tell the truth, everyone seemed to find the new style delightful. As for the crowd which followed the young woman about, that was merely a movement of curiosity.
- [14:52]
April Callahan
But as the article also shares, a reception beyond the gates of Longchamps was less laudatory, especially among fashion designers who in the New York Times were interviewed in an effort to uncover the identity of the designer responsible for these Longchamps designs that have also raised so much curiosity. And as the New York Times reports, curiosity has spread in all the dressmaking shops of Paris today as they were talking about the Directoire styles, where they would be worn and where not worn, whether they can be adopted by people in real society and adopted by anyone not possessing the physical perfection of the professional model. Some of the leading dressmakers in Paris are positive that the style is destined to have a long run. Others, equally prominent, are equally positive that the thing is impossible and that the Diortoire dress will never be anything but eccentric, if not positively risque. There is one thing to be said here, Cass. These dresses, unlike some of the other versions of this silhouette, were tight.
- [16:00]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes. Yes, they were. And first to be interviewed as they were trying to find the identity of the designer of these dresses was the house of Worth and the head designer, Jean Philippe Worth, who, along with his brother Gaston, had taken the Helm of the famed house after their death of their famous father, Charles Frederick, who, of course, is the founding father of haute couture. And Charles died in 1895, so they'd been running it for over a decade now. And what do you think, April? Was the House of Worth the creator of these styles?
- [16:30]
April Callahan
Oh, no, no, no. I would say no, because at this point, the House of Worth was not necessarily a visionary in terms of fashion. As we move into the 20th century, the house is obviously still quite relevant, as evidenced by this interview. But they're not pushing fashion forward. I would say they're still catering to their own clients from the past.
- [16:52]
Cassidy Zachary
And Jean Philippe, when asked if he designed the sensational Longchamp gowns, cried, never, never, never. As I never read a newspaper and never go to the races. What you tell me is the first that I have heard about the affair, but no Directoire gowns have gone out of my house. We couldn't dream of making such things. So no to the House of Worth. And next up for questioning was Worth's neighbor on Paris's famed luxury street, the Rue de la. And one of the very originators of the director of fashions herself. So someone of you already mentioned Madame Jean Paquin, and what do you think, April? Did? She put forth these daring designs.
- [17:28]
April Callahan
She could have definitely been a contender. She really was at the forefront of introducing this new silhouette, and it's one that she herself wore as early as 1907. So we're talking like a year before. And you can see this in this really lovely painting by Henri Gervais from that same year, and it depicts Jeanne in her fashion house. She is in the middle of her kind of salon, and she's surrounded by dozens of her clients. But she is the only one in this entire painting that is wearing this direct bar silhouette. And all of the women around her that have their waistlines at their natural waist, basically, she's just outdoing them. Yes, fashion wise, she's still wearing a corset. She's still wearing petticoats, but pecan, she always designed within this realm of acceptable good taste. But she was one of those designers who was really pushing fashion forward into modernity.
- [18:24]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah, she would never have done anything to shock polite taste either. She did it in a more subtle respect, respectable way. And this is evidenced by the director design. She then showed the New York Times journalist upon request, quote, at a signal, a young mannequin passed into the room with the air of a duchess. She was wearing a closely fitting gown that concealed nothing of her charms and yet might have been worn in church during Lent. So there you go. Revealing but could still be worn to church. And Pat can commented that, quote, dresses may be tight fitting without being suggested. As for the Directoire dress with the split skirt, I really do not believe it can ever be worn by any except possibly an actress on the stage. And then her taste would have to be somewhat eccentric. So that is pecan throwing some shade because that is not exactly a compliment, is it? April?
- [19:13]
April Callahan
No, no.
- [19:15]
Cassidy Zachary
As the article continues, Dracole Doucet, the Rue de la Paix generally seemed to be just as severe as passing judgment on the Directoire as worth and pecan. That is with one notable exception.
- [19:28]
April Callahan
Designer Jean Margaine Lacroix told the New York Times, quote, I have been patiently at work for years educating the public to a finer appreciation of what women's dresses should really be. Now that the style has really come to stay, no amount of criticism can check it. Wow, that's a fashion flex. She continues, quote she spoke a few words to an attendant. A minute later a young woman, fair, beautifully coiffed, slim, willowy, entered wearing one of the very gowns that had attracted so much attention yesterday alongchamp. It was beautifully molded to her body from the breast down. So I guess we have found our designer.
- [20:10]
Cassidy Zachary
Cass yes, and if Jean Margaret Lacroix is a name new to you dress listeners, rest assured you are not alone. And also please, if it's Marjane Lacroix, excuse us, because we could not actually find evidence of anyone correctly pronouncing it.
- [20:24]
April Callahan
Very little well known.
- [20:26]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes.
- [20:27]
April Callahan
Is there any general consensus? Help us out here, French fashion historian friends.
- [20:31]
Cassidy Zachary
So apologies French listeners, if it's Margaine, but we're saying Margaine. So despite Margain Lacroix being a prominent early 20th century haute couturier and the creator of these then famous gowns, her name, like so many countless fashion history contributors as April just referenced, her name's fallen into obscurity. And that's not to say that there are not scholars hard at work trying to bring her contributions back into the light. And one scholar that I have to mention is Dr. Sue Ralph, whose work on Margaine Lacroix I've come across for years. And we'll discuss her research more in detail in a bit. But first let's hear from Margaine Lacroix herself, who provides some fascinating insights into the construction of these gowns. The that had captured the attention of so many.
- [21:13]
April Callahan
The article that we referenced earlier in the New York Times continues talking about the model and the dress who had just entered the room, stating, quote, one could almost believe that the dress was a sole garment that adorned her shapely person. There were certainly no room for frills or frou frou or lingerie of any kind. End quote. And the fact of that matter is that Cass and this is as fashion historians, what we really remember about Margin Lacroix work now is that she essentially dispensed of the corset or undergarments altogether. And she explains, quote, the dress is absolutely simple. Therein lies its chief beauty. Only two garments cover the body. There is, first, a tight elastic silk jersey, to which is attached the soft clinging underskirt, which is visible at the side, end quote. And this underskirt, which she references, is also what is visible beneath the slit of the dress.
- [22:14]
Cassidy Zachary
And I really hope that her name gets out there and I really hope somebody finds one of these dresses because to my knowledge, none of these dresses survive. And I'm just super interested to to see what they would have looked like in person or more up close.
- [22:28]
April Callahan
But in we do have photos of them.
- [22:29]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, we do, but we don't have photos of the inside. So the undergarment description in this article does not end there. The article continues that the stockings are attached to hooks in the skirt, placed at the proper height. This dispenses with bothersome garters and holds the undergarment in place. The outer garment, the dress, is made to serve as its own corset, the bodice being strengthened with a little well, bone. Not enough, however, to destroy its suppleness. And as a matter of fact, the place of the corset is taken by the jersey, which is knitted strong and tight, end quote. So essentially the corset is built into the dress vis a vis the material. And this is an innovation that Margaine Lacroix says in the article she had actually been incorporating into her design since 1889.
- [23:12]
April Callahan
She has Spanx. Yes, she has Spanx fell into these dresses from the 1880s. With that ends our reference to our incredibly insightful primary resource article. Thank you to the New York Times, but not to the end of our coverage of Marjane Lacroix gowns because there is so much more to this story and more after a sponsor break.
- [23:38]
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- [26:08]
Cassidy Zachary
Welcome back. As mentioned previously, Sue Ralph has worked to bring Margaine Lacroix contributions to light. And I found a fantastic blog post she wrote to accompany her 2013 exhibition on Margaine Lacroix at the Chelsea Gallery in London. And in it she writes about the, quote unquote, Directoire mania that swept Europe and America in the weeks and months that followed this May 18th Longchamp event. And we will share some of her primary source research here. So she writes that the week following the Longchamp incident, Lily Langtree, who was a very famous actress, Demi Mondaine from this period, was photographed, quote, dressed in a Directoire gown strolling through the paddock at Chester races with the Duke of Westminster. The sensational Directoire style apparently caused a near riot in Chicago when, quote, a pushing, scrambling mob of 10,000 persons gather to watch a pretty girl in a director gown who had accepted a bet of $500 to walk through the town clad in this new scandalous fashion.
- [27:07]
April Callahan
Okay, I just want to interrupt. This is what we're saying when we're saying that these dresses are that tight, like, yes, no one had ever seen this before. Yes, women had been corseted, but like they had never been wearing dresses that were. That's that tight without a corset.
- [27:23]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes. And that revealing. Exactly. So they're incredibly noteworthy, obviously. And then another primary source article that she shares is about an incident that happened during the shooting of a film made in Chicago in 1908 called the Directoire Gown. And this featured a similar scene and evidently aimed to cash in on the notoriety of the new fashion in quotes. So obviously this was hot gossip for the period.
- [27:47]
April Callahan
Yeah, yeah. And Sue Ralph continues that quote, perhaps the most significant statement printed at the time was the announcement that came from an unnamed authority to wear even a modified Directoire style. Women had to change their figures. The hips are being reduced. The waist, however, is a little larger in order to reduce the apparent size of the hips. End quote. And then sue continues to write, quote, overnight, it seems that the Longchamp exposure of Marje Lacroix's daring gowns, this new body ideal had established itself. What became most sought after by fashionable women everywhere was La line or the line or a new slender silhouette. Laligne sounded the death knell to the old fashioned ideal of a tightly corseted waistline and a prominent bosom. End quote. So basically what we're looking at here now is really a harbinger cast of the 1920s. Right. It's looking forward to a straighter, more columnar line in fashion as opposed to that dramatic S curve silhouette.
- [28:54]
Cassidy Zachary
And obviously, this is something I've done a lot of research into. I've spent a lot of time researching this debut of this new silhouette. And if you look at historical pictures from this period, you'll see that there is a clear change from, say, the silhouette from 1905. And then fast forward to 1910. That's this new line. And so we've located where that happened. And if you want to talk about being super geeky, this is it.
- [29:21]
April Callahan
1908.Ish.
- [29:23]
Cassidy Zachary
And this is. I've created detailed timelines. I have images I've looked at, like page by page in fashion magazines. So thank you, April, for giving me the space to share this super niche research, because I am aware that's what it is. But because I've spent so much time in this year, this specific year, I know, and so do you, of course, that Margaine Lacroix is only one of a handful of designers we've previously established that were all designing within this Directoire inspired fashion line at pretty much the exact time. So was she the Directoire line's originator? No, she was not. Was she even its most radical exhibitor? No, not really. And this accolade is undeniably earned by her contemporary, Paul Pare, who was by far the most avant garde and radical of these contemporary Directoire designers. And today he's also the most famous of them, thanks in no small part to his self marketing and aggrandizing abilities. But within the timeline of today's story, and supported by my own primary source research, it's really important to acknowledge that Poiret does not start becoming well known in the international fashion scene until 1909. And so, in terms of this Directoire craze that Sue Ralph mentioned and the article that we're referencing today of 1908 that indeed established this new, longer, more columnar line in fashion. Sue is absolutely correct in giving Margaine Lacroix and her scandalous May 18th publicity stunt her dues, giving her flowers, and really initiating that seismic shift in the public consciousness. And my own research support this. Also, countless other historians working within this era can tell you as well that the Directoire line was more or less established by fall of 1908, and indeed, that straight columnar Directoire silhouette would dominate women's fashion for the next four years. And this was thanks in no small part to one Madame Margain Lacroix. And the daring debut of her gowns at Longchamp Racecourse on May 18, 1908. So let's give her her rightful flowers. And with that, we conclude our very first episode of Dress Diaries. Dress listeners, we hope you enjoy this trip back in fashion history as much as we enjoyed making it. And if you want to see these images on our socials this week, which you have to find and look at to see these gowns, make sure and look for the hashtag 540Until next time, please consider the future diary entries awaiting your wardrobe choices. Next Next time you get dressed, please.
- [31:52]
April Callahan
Head over to Dressed Underscore podcast on Instagram or Dressed Podcast without the Underscore on Facebook to check out the visual content associated with each week's episodes.
- [32:04]
Cassidy Zachary
Remember, we love hearing from you dress listeners, so if you'd like to write to us, you can do so@hello dresshistory.com Dresshistory.com is also our website where you can sign up for our monthly newsletter, our in person tours and online fashion history courses. And there you can also check out whatever else we have up our finely tailored sleeves.
- [32:22]
April Callahan
We get so many questions from you all about our recommendations for fashion history books, so if you're interested you can always find a link in our show notes to our bookshop.org bookshelf so that address is bookshop.org shop forward/dressed and there you will find over 12050 of our favorite fashion history titles.
- [32:43]
Cassidy Zachary
Do you love Dressed but want to skip the ads? We are so excited to now be a part of the Airwave Network and their premium ad free history subscription Airwave History plus and this is available on Apple Podcasts and the subscription brings you our podcast as well as 27 other popular history podcasts ad free for $5.99 per month. More information is available at the link in our bio.
- [33:08]
April Callahan
Thank you as always for tuning in and more dressed coming your way soon. The History of Fashion is a production of Dressed Media.