I adore the Edwardian era. Absolutely ADORE it. BTW, for definition sake, the Edwardian era was the period between 1901-1910 when King Edward VII of England ruled. But a lot of historians and vintage sellers extend the Edwardian era into the 1910s. So for this blog post, I’m considering into the teens still Edwardian.
Moving on…
I see images of women from the 1900s-1910s and just find them all to be so beautiful, ethereal, and idyllic. While I sometimes wish we could go back to wearing such beautiful romantic styles, it’s not very realistic. I imagine when you’re dressed as dreamily as this the only thing you can do is needlework, drink copious amounts of tea, write letters using quill and ink, and sit around trying not to damage your delicate frock.
It sure is lovely to look at though.
This is what I would wear if I was a gentlewoman of considerable means and it’s Saturday.
Oh goodness, look at this gown! This gown of silk and lace dates to early 1900s. The color is so stunning, like a sage gold! And the lace work with the pink on the roses. And don’t get me started on those sheer scalloped sleeves with the bead trim! I just imagine how one would have to walk in this dress. I suppose you would just have to slowly glide about imagining you’re a fairy of some sort. I know I would.
Oh God! Look at that LACE! Do you SEE that LACE?! I don’t even know what kind of lace that is. Battenburg? Who knows. Who really cares. It’s stunnnnnnning. (source)
Halloween costumes of the Edwardian era? Or just your typical weekend garb to a themed dinner party? Doesn’t matter. I want to wear it. (source)
Silk satin gown in one of my favorite colors ever. And look at the fur trim. It’s basically your winter dress. You will freeze to death. BUT you will look splendid. (source)
Even the shoes were super fancy and girly. Gold metallic thread on silk with gold ribbon laces. OBVIOUSLY. (source)
We so fancy! (source)
The BOWLING PIN skirt. Hehe! Now I know what this is called! And checkout that embroidery. Also, did you realize this is for a dress PATTERN. That means gals sewed these for themselves. I can’t even… (source)
Oh jeez. Oh man. Where do I even begin on how much I adore this dress. Lace, roses, sequins, silk, my favorite skirt silhouette ever… this is what I imagine the Queen Fairy of some magical mythical garden in Britain wears. And she has a euphonious name that rolls off your tongue like honey. (source)
This is the detail of her other dress. (source)
I’m wrapping up this Edwardian fashion inspiration post with a colorized photo of the beautiful Lily Elsie. She’s my Edwardian girl crush. Lily Elsie was an English singer and actress during the Edwardian era. She wore a Lucile gown on her wedding day (which she actually hated, LOL). I’ll do a more in depth blog post on Lily Elsie some other time. She’s pretty wonderful. (source)
