My online portfolio: Malotke Designs.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

The Father of Haute Couture


In my History of Fashion class we have a project due on Charles Frederick Worth, known as the Father of Haute Couture. I figured since I haven't posted something about a designer recently I would share what I've learned. So my post is a short biography of Worth composed from 3 different websites from a list of references my professor provided me with for the project. I've highlighted  and linked my references at the bottom so they're easily seen and accessed (Just click the reference and it'll take you to the original page).

My Condensed Biography:

Charles Fredrick Worth was born October 13, 1825, in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England (“Charles Frederick Worth”). After his family went from being affluent to just making it, Worth went into several different apprenticeships.  The one that stuck with him was working for Lewis and Allenby, London silk merchants. He stayed with Lewis and Allenby until 1845 and after this Worth moved to Paris. When he moved to Paris he worked for M. Gagelin, a “prominent firm that sold textile goods, shawls, and some ready-made garments” named Maison Gagelin (Krick). In the shop young women were used to model the different works created for clients of the shop. One of the models, Marie Vernet, and Worth fell in love and were married and eventually had two sons (“Charles Frederick Worth”).
Charles Frederick Worth. Image Credit: Fashion Model Directory. 
Worth would create elegant dresses for Marie to wear around made out of Gagelin silks from the store and wanted them to be sold alongside the store’s products. However, ready to wear garments weren’t common at the time and Gagelin denied Worth’s requests to sell Worth’s dresses despite the attention they were receiving. With this Worth went out on his own and partnered with Otto Bobergh, his financial partner, to open up Worth and Bobergh, a dress store, on the rue de la Paix (“Charles Frederick Worth”). And finally, for the first time, women could receive the “whole dress, design and fabric, at the same location” (“Charles Frederick Worth- Fashion Designer”). 

Worth accomplished a lot in his time. He was the first designer to start showing collections in advance and the first to use real women as models. He recognized that women needed more than just daytime and evening dresses, they need maternity wear, mourning clothes, and house wear. His designs were most notable for his attention to fit, his use of trimmings and keen fabric choices, and his incorporation of historic dress (Krick). He also created several perfumes during his time.

From the 1840s and onwards Worth designed hug crinoline creations, despite his distaste for the crinoline dresses. However, with the help of the Princess de Metternich, Worth launched a new shape into fashion (“Charles Frederick Worth- Fashion Designer”). By flattening the front and making the back more full, he created the bustle that was popular well into the 1880s (“Charles Frederick Worth- Fashion Designer”).

Worth died in Paris on March 10th, 1895 and his two sons, Jean-Philippe, who was raised in atelier and studied painting, and Gaston, who handled the business affairs of the company, then ran his shop (“Charles Frederick Worth”). The brothers were successful for quite some time until in 1956 the House of Worth closed its doors for the last time.


References:

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