Charles frederick worth

With Couture week in full swing and the forthcoming relaunch of the House of Schiaparelli (kicked off with a tribute collection from Christian Lacroix), we felt it would be an opportune moment to inject a bit of fashion history into all the show coverage. Remembered as the “Father of Haute Couture,” Charles Frederick Worth was an Englishman in Paris, outfitting the court of the Second Empire of France. Although he was not the first couturier or the most superior dressmaker, Worth’s…

It’s the most fashionable of fairytales- the poor Lincolnshire lad who went out to work at 11, arrived in Paris with £5 in his pocket and eventually designed the first bespoke frocks for the newly re-established Parisian court within years of arriving in the city.

Beth on Instagram: “The Lily evening gown. House of Worth. - Circa 1896. Black silk velvet, white silk satin (for the partially modern collar), white satin…”

Charles Frederick Worth was born in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England on October 13th, 1825. As a young man, he worked with London textile merchants and

Worth “Duchess of Savoia” fancy dress worn by Winifred, Duchess of Portland to the Devonshire House Ball, July 2, 1897 From the V&A

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Design for a fancy-dress costume, 1860s. Worth. Watercolor.

A superb example of dressmaking from the House of Worth, this dress exhibits the aesthetic of the last years of the nineteenth century. The fashionable reverse S-curve silhouette of the dress and the dramatic scroll pattern of the textile reflect the influence of the Art Nouveau movement