Curiosities

LET'S GET READY TO DANCE (2/23/98)

Women parade down a main street in extravagant ballroom-style dresses to publicize the start of the IX European Ballroom dancing contest in Torremolinos, Spain.
Some of the dresses are made from 33 square yards of material, weighing more than 126 pounds, and have wheels under them to help carry their weight. Man at right helps guide the dress using a wire.

(credit) Jesus Dominguez / Associated Press Photographer

Sylvia Marie has done it again:

"We have endless varieties of hoops, inflatable pettis, and what-not. The (possibly humorous) fantasy here is: What if someone invented a petticoat based upon the humble parasol?

Imagine how this outrageous contraption might move - the stays are fixed to leg bands (to defy the breezes) which respond to the wearer's walk. The fullness of the petti is determined by the height of the leg-bands. Delicious possibility, no? ;-)"

Fun from Sylvia Marie!

Cinderella: The Mice Speak Out

Jacques and Gus, that indefatigable pair of would-be saviors of Cinderella's cinematic fashion crisis, proved to be a lot more astute than viewers of the Disney film would ever suspect. Both admitted to being closet cross-dressers, feeling that their long-time fans would understand.

"A lot of design savvy can come from wearing a dress," says Jacques. (He was attired in a Bo-Peep style costume as I interviewed him, and seemed right at home, continually gesturing with his shepherdess' crook.) It's a practical matter, but you realize that romance can be triggered visually? Femininity floats in petticoats, no? 'Leave the sewing to the women - you go get some ribbon...' Well, we did - and then some!"

He shared with us the above pre-production illustration, revealing the underpinnings that he and Gus had engineered to conform Cinderella's figure to the requirements of the gown which the lady-mice supposedly constructed. "I designed the bra and waist-cinch. Tres chic, no? Cindy had a great figure without my help, but the picture was a product of the 1950's. In those days, a lady needed the proper bosom and waistline to be fashionable."

As you can see from the illustration, Jacques is a master of corsetry - and good taste.

"Cinderelly," added Gus, his on-screen character's accent occasionally invading his off-camera
persona's speech, "had always saved us from the jaws of Lucifee. That was the premise." The rotund but lucid rodent is a graduate of the noted Ecole de Beaux Arts, specializing in fashion design. "I had insisted that when the time came for Anastasia and Estella [the wicked stepsisters] to rip Cindy's lady-mouse designed gown to shreds, my gorgeous petticoat would survive in all its glory. Unfortunately, all the audience sees through the tears and rips is a glimpse of anonymous white fabric, deflated of pouf. This has always been a personal disappointment for me."

Wearing an exquisite (albeit plus-size) Givinchy gown, Gus-Gus shook his head and looked as forlorn as one can look when attired in the height of fashion. "The Fairy Godmother gets all the attention and is credited with the ultimate fashion victory, but it shouldn't have been so. We did the real work."

"We pleaded," said Jacques, "to have our creations re-appear when the Fairy Godmother's
trappings evaporated at midnight, but the censors vetoed that suggestion. What can two lone mice do against the powers that be?"

"All that was left," added Gus, "were the glass slippers. How sad - neither of us had a fetish for
shoes at that time. Live and learn, no?"

OOOOoooo.....Crinolyn found a special site portraying little boys (life-like mannequins) bring forced to dress en bouffant and in pettis! (samples below)

Something interesting from Cynthia -

Petticoat Flag - The battle of Carthage, Missouri
"Lucy Hood, staunch Unionist, inspires the boys at Carthage"

A special paper gown!

Courtesy Crinolyn on 4/22/03

Here is a curious collectable:

A record with a recording by The Charlie Shavers Quintet:
"Serenade to a Pair of Nylons"

Our guess is that is is circa 1940s.

Seventh annual Chocolate Show (2004)

Model Wendy Wolf stands still as John Wiggins, right, works on attaching a tutu made of white chocolate backstage. The outfit was the creation of Wiggins and Peter Baldino III. The tasty fashion show gathers 75 international chocolate manufacturers and retailers in New York City from Nov. 11-14 (2004). (AP Photo / Tina Fineberg)

May, 2005:

Oddly enough, Bo found this Mac Computer ad on his recent trip to NYC,
put forth by Tekserve, a retailer in Lower Manhattan.

Bo Persson, M.A.
Textiles & Dress Historian
http://bopersson.tripod.com

Crinolyn came up with this quite impressive balloon gown

She also provided a video of this
(Please let us know if you experience any difficulties the video)

Balloon gown from Crinolyn

Enlargeable

"La Dolce Vita II" by Balonmania

Inflatable Dress Becomes a Kayak

From Crinolyn

Enlargeable

Crinolyn sends this link to balloon dresses

A couple of instances of a supercilious use for
the petticoat in Rogue Magazine
(Feb '63 left, Nov '62 right)

Courtesy Carole Jean

Photos by Samuel Haskins

(below) Abby Rhodes provides this charming photo interpretation of 'lampshade gowns'
...from Casa Vogue, a supplement to Italian Vogue, in October 2006

...and another, obviously from the same photo shoot-this was in British Vogue, August 2006.

Tom L.: "I found some pictures on Flickr with petticoats, with some light under the skirt, shining like a lamp!
It reminded me of the lampshade gowns on [The Pond]

There must be some light source, but I did not find any explanation how it was done ... :-("

ED: The picture at left is a fine example, but there are four more here, as well as some other goodies.
You may have to (easily) sign on to Flicker to see them, but it's worth it. OR failing that, you can do a search
for <<reifrock michael stange>>, going to Flicker.com.

(Dick sends this article)

HERE COMES THE BRIDE - IN HER 25ST GOWN!
09:00 - 22 June 2006

The aim was to outdo the celebrity wedding of Peter Andre and Jordan. And it was mission accomplished in Gloucester yesterday afternoon as bride Carly O'Brien, 16, had the wedding of her dreams - wearing a dress large enough to make it into the record books. The beautiful white gown, believed to be the largest ever made, cost many thousands of pounds and weighed an incredible 25 stone (350 pounds? Can't be, but Tessy used a converter) with everything attached.

Carly, who married Michael Coffey, 17, had to literally be pushed up the aisle in the giant 8ft wide and 60ft long gown. The bells had been tolling for over an hour when pretty Carly, of Gloucester, arrived at St Peter's Catholic Church, London Road, in a glass carriage that only a few months ago hosted Jordan in her famously over-the-top marriage to Peter Andre.

Not to be outdone, Carly had set out to have the most jaw-dropping and unique wedding Gloucester has ever seen, in a gown of 30 layers of tulle over thousands of yards of net petticoats. Passers-by gathered on the street in awe of the white and glass carriage drawn by six horses and Carly was a picture in her flowing elegant dress that filled the carriage.

But then the problems began - two people were needed to yank her by the arm to pull her out of the carriage. Then she was barely able to fit in the large oak front doors of the
church and by the time she reached the aisle parts of the dress were being discarded just so the ceremony could take place.

The bridesmaids were also spectacular - their rotund emerald dresses, which matched the accents from the Emerald Isle, bobbed in the wind. Carly's sister and maid of honour Crystal O'Brien explained why Carly had her heart set on such an event.

"It was just to show Jordan she's not the only one," she said.
"It was worth it, it was her dream wedding and hers was bigger than Jordan's. With a dress that big outside the church we had to take layers off just to get her in."

Although he had not prepared a speech it was best man Jimmy Cromish who had the last word. "Thank God it's over," he said.