One of the things I happen to enjoy the most about historical fiction is when an author pays attention to feminine details, like clothes. While not all historical fiction fashion is my cup of tea, I must admit that from the Edwardian onward, I do harbor an abiding love for the evolution of fashion. Although, I must be honest, the bustle still baffles me.

I am particularly drawn to how clothing began it’s evolution in the liberation of women. This came about largely during World War I, when women were forced to enter the workforce and do a lot of the manual jobs a man was required to do. Circa 1910s, men wore trousers. Furthermore, they were not required to wear any undergarments that were restrictive. Corset and stays, however, were a staple in every woman’s wardrobe. The fashion demanded it. To note, particularly in the early 1900s, fashion was about silhouette, and in the 1910s, that silhouette was narrow waists only achievable with the aid of a corset.

During the war and afterward, women’s fashion changed in significant ways, each pointing to more and more freedom for the wearer, a silent nod to the liberation and equality women were beginning to achieve in the world.

In the 1920s, women could be seen wearing trousers just like the men. More common, however, were dresses. Not like the dresses their mothers wore either. Raised hemlines, dropped waists, these women weren’t going back to the bondage inflicted by the rigors of fashion. And while they did still wear a variety of different structural garments, rather than opting for the restrictive corsets, they were choosing stays and girdles made with more modern, accommodating, and forgiving fabrics which molded to a woman’s movements rather than inhibited them.

While writing my novel, Where the Orchids Grow Wild, I had to flesh out a scene that takes place at the world renowned Raffles. Brigida and her brother have been invited to attend a Gala there one evening, and she needs to figure out what in her outmoded and decidedly unfashionable wardrobe would be right for such a glitzy event. This is where I, as an author, got to have a lot of fun. Fashion research, after all the other technical research I was doing was a delightfully decadent cup of tea, complete with frothed milk and a soupçon of sugar.

As I mentioned in my Meet the Cast post, Brigida Somerset has been the primary caretaker for her brother Owen since he came back from the Great War paralyzed and suffering the effects of mustard gas in his respiratory system as well as in his vision. Since she was fifteen, Brigida has been Owen’s eyes. And Owen has a penchant for Ancient Greek and Roman literatures— histories, epics, philosophies, you name it, Brigida has probably read it aloud to Owen.

And, since Owen has a general aversion to crowds, the last decade of Brigida’s life has been one of isolation and solitude, at least from society. While she may peruse the fashion plates, she just doesn’t see the point in wasting money purchasing any of the garments and items that catch her fancy. She’s a practical girl, for the most part. But even practical gals like to have a little frill and frippery in their fashion repertoire.

Enter the Delphos Gown.

Here’s where my research got fun and exciting. You see, not only am I great lover of sophisticated, classical fashion, I also possess a minor in Art History. And the Delphos Gown combines these two in a blissful union.

In 1907, French fashion designer Henrietta Negrin and her textile designing husband, Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, holed themselves up in a 13th Century Venetian palazzo for the purpose of creating. You know how artistic types are. And nothing kindles the flames of creativity more than the proper setting, which I submit, is a 13th Century Venetian palazzo. Just typing it conjures all sorts of appropriate atmosphere for creation.

While there, Fortuny and Negrin pulled inspiration from antiquity and created, as Marcel Proust said, a garment that is both faithfully antique, and markedly original.

What I mean by pulling from antiquity is that they took their inspiration for Greek sculpture, namely Heniokhos, or as it’s known in the colloquial, the Charioteer of Delphi. To this date, we are still uncertain who the sculptor of this bronze masterpiece actually is; historians have it narrowed to two likely artists: Pythagoras of Region or Calamis.

It is important to note that a great many of Greek statues are no longer with us. Being that most of these statues were made of bronze, they often fell victim to the times and were either melted down for their material or corroded to the point that they disintegrated. But, the Charioteer of Delphi was preserved by being covered by rocks and rubble for centuries until it was discovered in 1896 at the Sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi. When it was first unearthed, it was remarked upon how the bronze possessed a bluish hue; however, today were you visit the Delphi Archaeological Museum, you would see that the top half of the statue has developed a greenish hue from being exposed to the elements within the room. But, the bottom portion of the statue does still retain a bluish aspect.

Negrin and Fortuny took inspiration from the chiton, a pleated garment fastened at the shoulders. While traditional chitons were made of wool, or in the case of the Ionic chiton which employed linen, the Delphos Gown is made of silk.

Negrin and Fortuny designed their gown to be worn in the style of both the monochiton and the zoster. The monochiton is simply the gown; any embellishments were at the shoulders. The zoster, as patterned after antiquity, was the gown worn with a belt; these belts could differ from high-girdled (under the breast, empire style) to low-girdled (at the waist) to narrow girdled (somewhere the between the two).

Originally, the Delphos Gown was not designed to be worn outside of the house. Being that it made its debut in 1909 and boasted the fact that it wasn’t meant to have undergarments worn beneath it, you can imagine the shockwaves it sent through women’s fashion. The Delphos Gown was meant to be worn at home, for light entertaining such as for tea.

However, as the years wore on and fashion continued its evolution, so did the Delphos Gown. What was once meant to be a leisurely garment worn in the comfort of home slowly made a transformation into a stylish evening gown worn to the most affluent events.

The gown is made from four or five pieces of silk satin, or in some cases taffeta; each piece of silk has four to five hundred micro pleats in them, all done manually. The neckline and shoulders were adjustable via a silk drawstring strung with Murano glass beads. Much in the Ionic chiton fashion, the gown was belted, whether with a decorative piece of fabric or a show-stopping belt remained up to the wearer.

While Fortuny received the credit for the dress, the whole of his life, he maintained that the Delphos Gown would never have been created were it not for his wife. In fact, he insisted on making this very clear with a side note he added to the paton saying this very thing.

Now, back to Brigida standing in front of her chiffonier at the Sea View Hotel trying to figure out what to wear to the Raffles’ Gala. With her rich and learned history in all things Greco-Roman, the Delphos Gown was just the evening apparel for Brigida, in my book. And, the added bonus was that while the gown was produced annually until 1970, it was not the height of fashion in 1928. In many ways, it was a trifle outmoded, with it’s floor length and natural waist. But, it is Brigida to a tee.

So, when Brigida’s love interest, Captain Max Pimburton sees her unexpectedly at the Raffles’ Gala, he is awe struck. Standing behind Owen’s wheelchair, moonlight lining her in silver from the large window, a tropical splendor her backdrop, she is clothed in a shimmering silk satin Delphos Gown that conjures to mind the rich blues and greens of a peacock’s feather.

Max isn’t able to find the right words to capture the moment, but his brother-in-arms, Finn, is. How does he describe it, again?

So, when you’re reading through Where the Orchids Grow Wild and you come to the Raffles’ Gala, you’ll know exactly what Brigida is wearing and why it is so entirely perfect for her.