The brown gown

I am not sure which sister this gown belonged to. I think it’s attributed to Charlotte but most gowns are, I had thought before I viewed it that it belonged to Emily as it’s quite narrow skirted and Emily is known to have worn narrow skirted gowns  but it seems a bit too small on the bodice to have been Emilys, its just  possible its Charlotte’s as she did wear brown but it just seems so unlike all the other gowns known to be Charlotte’s or described by those who knew her that I cant quite bring myself to belive it hers. I cant help but feel it might have belonged to  another of the sisters perhaps Anne, she was a similar build to Charlotte  and not that much taller. Hathaways of Haworth

Charlotte Brontes Paisley Gown

This gown looks quite pretty when displayed in a glass case on a mannequin but up close it  is  utterly exquisite. I had expected it to be a  simple fine cotton lawn, very like liberty’s  Lawns,In reality the fabric is crisp and fresh but gossamer fine and as light as spiders silk,If you look carefully at the photo below you can just see the tape measure showing through the fabric. The whole dress weights barely anything. It’s also beautifully sewn and constructed and  in beautiful condition with no hemlines scuffing or pin marks etc. 

I think its possible it was professionally made but if not it speaks well for Charlotte’s sewing skills. I find it hard to belive it’s ever been worn and wonder if it was an unworn part of Charlotte’s trousseau or perhaps worn as an afternoon gown  briefly on one of Charlotte’s stays at the homes of rich friends or in London. I think it must have been bought after Charlotte’s income improved. There is a lot of fabric and that  fabric does not seem to be a cheap one as  besides being printed with a wide range of coloured dyes it also has a woven pattern of almost invisible stripes. Read on: Hathaways of Haworth

Charlotte Bronte' s dress which she used during her honeymoon tour.

Its a strange and moving item, the stiffness of the fabric and the gowns construction  almost creates an impression of an occupant and its strange to imagine what is now laid out with such care  on a table was once hung neatly upstairs with similar care waiting Charlotte’s arrival from her wedding at the nearby church and just a few hours later would have been clothing Charlotte as she walked happily out of the Parsonage door to start her Honeymoon tour .I suspect it arrived at its destination hours later rather less crisp and pristine than it now looks but  such is the case with all natural fabrics  and the gown was an eminently sensible choice for traveling.  Read more on: Hathaways of Haworth

Charlotte Bronte' s white wedding bonnet and veil as well as a replica of her wedding dress.

And for the record here are her white wedding bonnet and veil as well as a replica of her wedding dress. 

 

Of the third--the wedding-dress--I wholly decline the responsibility  It must be charged upon a sort of friendly compulsion or over-persuasion. Nothing would satisfy some of my friends but white which I told you I would not wear. Accordingly they dressed me in white by way of trial--vowed away their consciences that nothing had ever suited me so well--and white I had to buy and did buy to my own amazement--but I took care to get it in cheap material--there were some insinuations about silk, tulle and I don't know what--but I stuck convulsively to muslin--plain book muslin with a tuck or two. Also the white veil--I took care should be a matter of 5s being simply of tulle with little tucks. If I must make a fool of myself--it shall be on an economical plan.

~ Charlotte Brontë to Elizabeth Gaskell (?), early June 1854

 

What the journalist may be mistaking for her wedding dress is her going-away dress, which wasn't 'almost mauve' but which does now look dark mauve and is thought to have been lavender when new, not pink.

 

Read more: To her own amazement

A despicable act

The news about the theft at the Old Bell Chapel in Thornton is being featured by newspapers all over the globe such as the Libero Quotidiano (Italy) or the New York Daily News Page Views. But it is of course the British press that's discussing the matter more. From BBC News:

Church warden Steven Stanworth said he considered the thefts a desecration of the ground.
He said: "We are proud of our achievements in making Bronte Bell Chapel and surrounding graveyard a place where people can now visit to enjoy its history, beauty and nature.
"It is a historic site and it has been desecrated. This was a despicable and awful crime."
Police patrols were stepped up around the cemetery, opposite St James Church in Thornton Road, after the damage was discovered.
Det Insp Mark Long, from West Yorkshire Police, said: "This is quite clearly a despicable act which will cause great offence in the local community."
Bradford councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, who is responsible for tourism in the area, said history "had been thrown away".

Read more: A despicable act
 

Romantic and Realistic Aspects in the Bronte Sisters’ Novels

This study chose the novels of the Bronte sisters as a literary specimen to test the different theories accounting for what falls within the scope of Realism and what of Romanticism. Why the Bronte sisters? Because they lived within the same family circle, hence have the same experiences and social circumstances. Similarity is enhanced by their femaleness. Their being siblings would overcome the ‘mistaken’ association between Romanticism-upper class of luxury and ivory towers and Realism-middle and lower classes of poverty and disease dichotomy, which is the first of melting,vanishing ‘dividing-lines.’ These three sisters produce three different literary renderings of somehow identical experiences (backgrounds).

Read on: is.muni.cz

Charlottes Brontes corset

I wanted to examine the corset because it is a well documented Bronte artifact and known to have definitely belonged to Charlotte so the measurements of the corset will be Charlotte’s. It will  therefore help not just to work out her build but also to clarify which gowns in the Parsonage collection are Charlotte’s and which can be reliably used to work out Charlotte’s fashion tastes. This will clarify which views in  the letters  she writes are in fact accurate reflections of Charlottes own views and what comments in the novels often used to illustrate her character are infact hers as this is usually assumed to be the case. However my closer examination of the corset has raised much wider issues concerning Charlottes mind-set, health and overall well being.
It is quite long early Victorian style with a number of quite sturdy bones, which may be whalebone or possibly steel and whalebone mix as one protruding bone looked like steel. I didnt want to be the person who ruined the Bronte corset so I didnt try to see what the give on the corset was but most steel boned modern corsets are decidedly inflexible (though this was lighter than modern ones). It also has a very wide but removable front busk which when worn would severely limit any  bending or leaning forward movements and has rather alarming health implications. 

Read more of this fascinating subject on:
Hathaways of Haworth


 

The pink Wrapper gown

Hathaways of Haworth/Bronte-clothing-the-pink-wrapper-gowndressing-gown/

Destroying their heritage

The Yorkshire Post reports a 'despicable theft' that has taken place at the Old Bell Chapel in Thornton:

POLICE are continuing to patrol an historic graveyard closely linked to the Bronte family after thieves desecrated it, stealing three ancient headstones which have been there for the past 200 years.
The damage at the Old Bell Chapel, also known as the Bronte Bell Chapel, opposite St James Church on Thornton Road, Bradford, was discovered over the weekend with police branding the theft “despicable”.
Up to 30 metres of Yorkshire stone was also stolen from a pathway in the graveyard next to the chapel where Patrick Bronte was minister between 1815 and 1820 before moving to nearby Haworth.
Officers patrolled the chapel on Saturday night after fears were raised the thieves would return for more stone slabs they had already removed and stacked up in the cemetery.
And last night, West Yorkshire Police said its officers would continue to pay special 
attention to the site during regular patrols.
Ann Dinsdale, acting director of the Bronte Society, condemned the thefts and said numerous sites connected to the family have been targeted in recent years, including Haworth Church which has had lead stripped from its roof.
“People need to be really vigilant, because when it is gone, it is gone,” she told the Yorkshire Post. “I just don’t know how you go about educating people that this is part of their heritage they are destroying.”

Destroying their heritage

Bronte dresses

Tomorrow I will show you

photographs published on
 

Hathaways of Haworth

Allready from this weblog some information:

I have just started to edit my photos from todays session in the Bronte Parsonage. I was thrilled and privileged to be allowed access to several items of Bronte clothing at the Parsonage, a Brown gown, a pink gown, the going away gown and the Paisley gown and also the Corset. I choose these gowns as two, the Paisley gown and going away gown are well known and also have an excellent provenance and source references ( as does the corset). The pink and brown gowns are also mostly likely to be Bronte gowns though with less clear timelines and both have also been in display  at the Parsonage in the past.

 

I cannot wait to see tomorrow what is published om her weblog.