From the seller:
In this auction, you are bidding on a TRULY AWESOME, in my opinion, Edwardian sidesaddle riding habit. Fashioned of a lightweight wool with black wool trim. Some browning on the back left tail of the jacket and on the front near the buttons, with some slight fraying to the trim in a few areas, a little darkening under the arms, not noticeable. Very wearable. Jacket design is spectacular!
Label: Franklin Simon & Co.
measures (all items are measured flat in inches + doubled):
Measures:
Jacket: bust: 32 waist: 28 length: 28
Skirt: waist: 22 length: 33
Has not been cleaned.
From Me:
I'm not convinced this is a riding habit but it is Edwardian.
From the drape of the skirt and the uneven hem in the back, I concluded that it was a riding habit before I saw the description. That said - it's on the wrong side! A habit skirt should have greater length on the left side to cover the feet. So maybe the pictures are flipped, or the skirt's on the mannequin backwards and or sideways, or it's not a riding habit at all.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I just saw the weird slit in the first picture. That makes the whole thing looks like a wrap skirt. Were there wrap skirts in the Edwardian period, especially any with trains? Because that's the only option if this is not a habit.
Or - new idea - it might be a transitional type of riding habit that lost its original matching breeches/trousers. Modern "aside" riding can be done with an "apron" that just snaps or buttons on over regular breeches. It makes the wearer look like she's wearing a skirt, but won't be a safety hazard if she falls and isn't in the way when she's on foot. Earlier habits were composed of jacket, skirt, and under-trousers. But by the early 1920s (at the latest - that's just when I have a data point), it was acceptable for women to ride astride in breeches/jodhpurs. This might be a more formal habit for riding aside, but without a true skirt. It might wrap/button/fasten in such a way that it looks like a skirt when riding and on the ground, but the wearer isn't dealing with much fabric and can dispense with it entirely if she chooses.
What a puzzler! To seller didn't provide provide detail pictures of that skirt.
@nuranar
ReplyDeleteBased on the photos the seller did provide, it looks like it might be a wrap skirt of some kind. The entire way the skirt is draped is off - like she kept messing with in every picture! Sometimes it looks like it has a train and then...not.
Unfortunately, this seller is infamous (in my opinion) for never providing good "inside" shots. It took me forever to figure out what the heck she was showing in one photo for this outfit. I finally figured out it was part of the skirt with a button on the facing to hold together the wrap skirt - I think. It was too terribly confusing to post.
If nothing else, it's cool looking and Edwardian. :-)