Photographs, vintage postcards and other ephemera


Saturday 2 March 2013

A long skirt

Out of the variety of possible themes for this week's Sepia Saturday, I've gone for the long skirt option. Possibly not a 'dangerous' long skirt and certainly not one worn by a worker, but I can't imagine trying to move around wearing that amount of fabric without falling over my feet.
One of 36 London cartes de visite from Peggy's box of photographs; this one by Brixton photographer Henry Ward was taken between 1866 and 1871 when his studio was at 19 Spencer Place, Brixton Road.  Peggy's box contained 80 cartes de visite - 36 from London; 10 from Ilminster, Somerset; 13 from Bridgwater, Devon and 21 from other locations across England.

See this week's other posts over at Sepia Saturday

11 comments:

21 Wits said...

A most lovely long skirt/dress indeed! I'm always fascinated with the other sides of these photos too. Thanks for sharing this with us!

Unknown said...

I was lead to a long skirt by accident while looking for long ago good memories of my recently deceased uncle age 89. I love the photos of the long skirts but agree would not want to wear one.
QMM

Anonymous said...

Lovely photograph. I can't imagine getting through the day in all that dress!

Mike Brubaker said...

The back stamp is a wonderful design with unusual instructions for finding the right door. Customers of Mr. & Mrs. Ward (did she take photos too?) must have had difficulty finding the studio to have added that detail.

Brett Payne said...

Not to mention the framework that she's possibly wearing underneath the dress to keep it in position.

A wonderful portrait, unusual in that it was taken by a husband and wife team, and that the husband acknowledged the wife's participation - not a common occurrence in the late 1860s or early 1870s, when I judge this was taken.

Bob Scotney said...

The table is more ornate than the dress.

Alan Burnett said...

A fine old photograph. As with so often, the back of the card is almost as fascinating as the front - the wonderful lettering acting like a date-stamp.

Wendy said...

Whenever I see dresses of this period, my mind drifts to thoughts of laundry and ironing and how dirty those hems must've gotten.

Alex Daw said...

By crikey - that is a massive skirt. I love the back of that photo too - isn't it ornate? Fabulous find. Thanks for sharing.

Postcardy said...

The top half of her body looks small in relation tho the skirt. Maybe that was the desired impression.

ScotSue said...

hvea always fancied swanning around in a long skirt, but what was the reality like in walking outside in rainy, muddy streets and climbing stairs? Today it would be a health and safety risk!