ABSTRACT
Decorative performance played a major role in aristocratic activity in Britain during the later part of the nineteenth century. Specifically made fashionable dress marked the privileged body as a participant in rituals that ranged from the ornately excessive courtly performance characteristic of Queen Victoria’s Drawing Rooms to the outrageously fantastic costumes made as ‘fancy dresses’ for theme balls or garden parties. Court dresses, specially designed and made for the spectacular performances, conformed to a set of prescribed patterns but within the decorative accoutrements, variations and alterations provided an endless range of spectacular characteristics. Contemporary fashion magazines described selected dresses in great detail, carefully itemized the materials used, the extravagant details of the dress, the elaborate accessories and frequently included the name of the designer/maker of the costume. The making and wearing of court dress functions as a decorative performance, one that is excessively reminiscent of a fading aristocratic culture while, at the same time, it highlights the art of embroidery.
