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”).
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:
