A couple of years ago I was the winning bidder of a box of antique and vintage doll clothing at a live auction. I’m not quite sure why I felt compelled to bid on the box full of clothes. When I looked through it, I found some of the sweetest diminutive garments.
After a bit of investigative work I discovered the name of these Victorian undergarments. I originally thought they were called pantaloons, but after “googling” I found out that pantaloons were for men. Then I tried petticoats, well they are skirts. Drawers and bloomers are shorter pants. The definition of pantalets is; long drawers, usually trimmed with ruffles, extending below the skirts: worn during the early and mid 19th century.
These pantalets are the inspiration for a series of framed assemblages incorporating doll clothes.
Wearing the pantalets is an actual original image from an 1872 Victorian magazine of a beautiful woman with a far away gaze. A page with poems for interest and another with a landscape to ground her. Three buttons for balance and to hold the composition together.
I chose this frame for it’s round top and aged patina. I feel that when something is made well, its beauty only increases with age and the wear shown makes it authentic to its past.
This is the first in a series, stay tuned for more. I almost have the second one completed, with ideas for a couple more.
