Les Petites Dames de Mode

This tape examines ladies' high fashion from 1850-1910 via the use of John Burbidge's stunning 29-inch costumed mannequins. Burbidge, a wedding dress designer for Priscilla's of Boston (and creator of Tricia Nixon's wedding gown) used his own archival collection to create the miniature gowns. In a way, this is similar to how 18th and 19th century designers used fashion dolls to disseminate new styles: dressmakers would examine the miniature clothes' construction and make their own scaled-up copies for customers. Nineteenth century upper class women were expected to have ensembles for every occasion, so Burbidge has created day gowns, walking dresses, visiting costumes, tea and garden party outfits, a mourning dress, wedding gowns, ball gowns, and even a suit dress to reflect the trend of turn-of-the-century women entering the workplace. The mannequins are perfectly detailed not only in terms of the dresses and hair styles: the extensive accessorizing of the era is demonstrated with a variety of perfectly scaled jewelry, fans, gloves, scarves, shawls, bonnets, hats, lorgnettes, reticules and parasols. Excellent close-up camera work shows the exquisite detail of the ensembles. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (R. Reagan)