Dress 1888

This eye-catching dress was conceived by the House of Worth, purveyors of finery for the late 19th-century elite. It is difficult to miss the striking vertical stripes which adorn the garment. Stripes, so ubiquitous today, carry a curious history. In the medieval era, they were not merely decorative but a mark of the ‘other’— worn by criminals, prostitutes, and jesters. A garment boldly emblazoned with stripes signaled a departure from societal norms. We can look back to paintings from the Renaissance in which figures wearing stripes are of suspicious nature. Over time, the stripe has resurfaced, evolved, and taken on new meanings in different historical contexts, and is here repurposed by the House of Worth. The choice to cover a garment that speaks of such status and luxury may strike a subconscious dissonance in the viewer, proving that the symbols of the past resonate with a unique and often contradictory power.