The Future and the Generation: Two Court docket Presentation Robes from the Chicago Historical past Museum

In my paintings as curatorial worker on the Chicago Historical past Museum I used to be lucky enough quantity to check two gorgeous court docket presentation robes from the Nineteen Twenties. I blogged about the ones clothes and the ritual of the court docket presentation at the Chicago History Museum Blog. However I additionally idea there used to be a larger tale to learn, and so I proceed the tale of those two robes right here on The Type Historian.

Court docket presentation robe and teach, Jacques Doucet, 1926. Reward of Omit Mary Dudley Kenna. Within the selection of the Chicago Historical past Museum. 1965.380a-e. Picture by means of Katy Werlin.

Court docket presentation robe and teach, Jacques Doucet, 1926. Reward of Omit Mary Dudley Kenna. Within the selection of the Chicago Historical past Museum. 1965.380a-e. Picture by means of Katy Werlin.

The primary robe used to be old by means of Mary Dudley Kenna when she used to be introduced on the Court docket of St. James on June 10, 1926. It used to be designed by means of Jacques Doucet for the Area of Doucet.

Court docket presentation robe and teach, Edward Molyneux, 1928. Reward of Mrs. Frederick L. Spencer. Within the selection of the Chicago Historical past Museum. 1962.464a-d. Picture by means of Katy Werlin.

The second one robe used to be old by means of Mrs. Frederick L. Spencer,

née Helen Hurley, within the spring of 1928. It used to be designed by means of Edward Molyneux. To peer photographs of each girls of their court docket robes, please the following my put up at the Chicago History Museum Blog.

Constituent of court docket presentation robe and teach, Jacques Doucet, 1926. Reward of Omit Mary Dudley Kenna. Within the selection of the Chicago Historical past Museum. 1965.380a-e. Picture by means of Katy Werlin.

Either one of those robes show off an bizarre technical mastery, as can also be evident by means of the property photographs peppered right through this put up. However what I to find most attractive is the distinction those two robes present– one representing the romanticism of a bygone pace, the alternative representing the graceful modernity of a unused date.

Constituent of court docket presentation robe and teach, Edward Molyneux, 1928. Reward of Mrs. Frederick L. Spencer. Within the selection of the Chicago Historical past Museum. 1962.464a-d. Picture by means of Katy Werlin.

Each robes are neatly inside the aesthetics in their respective designers. However simply who had been Jacques Doucet and Edward Molyneux?

Constituent of court docket presentation robe and teach, Jacques Doucet, 1926. Reward of Omit Mary Dudley Kenna. Within the selection of the Chicago Historical past Museum. 1965.380a-e. Picture by means of Katy Werlin.

Mary’s robe used to be designed by means of
Jacques Doucet (1853-1929) for the Area of Doucet. The Area of Doucet used to be based in 1817 by means of Antoine Doucet (1795-1866), Jacques’ grandfather. At the beginning the home equipped undies, lace, and embroideries, a becoming starting for a space that might come to constitute a decorative, female aesthetic. Within the early 1840s the home used to be established at the Rue de los angeles Paix, probably the most impressive couture streets in Paris. Jacques himself used to be born there in 1853 and formally joined in the home in 1874. The Area of Doucet used to be one of the most greatest couture homes of the past due 19th and early 20th centuries, and one of the superb couturiers of the 20th century labored for Doucet together with Paul Poiret (labored for Doucet from 1896-1900) and Madeleine Vionnet (labored for Doucet from 1907-1912). Alternatively, the company by no means actually recovered from the ravages of International Struggle I. It merged with a lesser couture space, Doueillet, in 1924, and closed altogether in 1932.

Constituent of court docket presentation robe and teach, Edward Molyneux, 1928. Reward of Mrs. Frederick L. Spencer. Within the selection of the Chicago Historical past Museum. 1962.464a-d. Picture by means of Katy Werlin.

Captain Edward Molyneux (1891-1974) used to be born in London and served as a captain within the British military throughout International Struggle I. He additionally labored for couturier Lucile in London ahead of opening his personal couture space in Paris in 1919. The Area of Molyneux used to be a huge luck and branches had been quickly opened in Monte Carlo, Cannes, and London. 20th-century couturier Pierre Balmain apprenticed on the Area of Molyneux, describing it in his 1964 memoirs, My Years and Seasons, as a “temple of subdued elegance… [where] the world’s well-dressed women wore the inimitable two-pieces and tailored suits with pleated skirts, bearing the label of Molyneux.”

Constituent of court docket presentation robe and teach, Jacques Doucet, 1926. Reward of Omit Mary Dudley Kenna. Within the selection of the Chicago Historical past Museum. 1965.380a-e. Picture by means of Katy Werlin.

The classy of Jacques Doucet is coloured by means of delicacy, romanticism, femininity, and a powerful historic affect. Doucet himself used to be a superb collector of 18th century artwork and his designs display the affect of the rococo aesthetic. Floral motifs and lace had been in particular pervasive in his designs. 

Mary’s court docket presentation ensemble is definitely a becoming instance of the Doucet aesthetic. The shorten of the robe is within the stylish Nineteen Twenties style– leave becoming and with a dropped waist. And but the overall, accrued skirt suggests the types of a prior date. A way of romance and whimsey, recalling the shiny aesthetic of the Edwardian length (1901-1910), is conveyed by means of the appliqued floral motif on each the robe and teach. Comfortable velvets and satins are expertly stitched and accrued to build cushy flora which left-overs flippantly in an embroidered basket. There’s a playful whimsey as a couple of flora and buds fall gracefully from the reasonably tipped basket. Total this get dressed conveys a way of soppy, decorative femininity. Examine it with the Doucet robes beneath, from the early 1900s:

The similar cushy femininity of those two robes from the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork is tailored to Nineteen Twenties style in Mary’s court docket presentation robe.

Constituent of court docket presentation robe and teach, Edward Molyneux, 1928. Reward of Mrs. Frederick L. Spencer. Within the selection of the Chicago Historical past Museum. 1962.464a-d. Picture by means of Katy Werlin.

Against this to the historical romanticism of Doucet’s aesthetic, the glance of the Area of Molyneux used to be all about modernity. Molyneux designs embodied the brilliant and thin aesthetic of the Nineteen Twenties and Thirties. His designs had been prevented and have shyed away from plethora ornament, appearing the affect of his army background and English heritage. Molyneux cherished blank traces, and his designs had been streamlined and fluid, taking inspiration from the unused Artwork Deco genre of structure and design.


Helen’s court docket presentation ensemble is the very best instance of this. The design is modest and blank, with incline, extenuated teardrop shapes created from concentric rows of pearls and crystals. All of those design facets are hallmarks of the Artwork Deco motion. The get dressed itself is shorten in a easy, slender tube circumstance, embracing probably the most new genre of get dressed. Examine the design of Helen’s get dressed with the Artwork Deco structure beneath:

The Chrysler Development in Ny, NY. Designed by means of William Van Alen and made from 1928-1930.

Decorative ironwork designed by means of Edgar Brandt for the Cheney Silk development in Ny, NY (now the Madison Belmont Development). Constructed from 1924-1925. Picture by means of Daniel E. Russell.

As you’ll see, Helen’s get dressed suits proper in with the graceful and new genre of Artwork Deco.

Molyneux clothier label optical at the underside of the headdress related to the robe. Court docket presentation robe and teach, Edward Molyneux, 1928. Reward of Mrs. Frederick L. Spencer. Within the selection of the Chicago Historical past Museum. 1962.464a-d. Picture by means of Katy Werlin.