A claret-coloured dress in Sayers, and the bias cut

Have his Carcase by Dorothy L Sayers

published 1932

I’m doing extra posts on aspects of the Lord Peter Wimsey books by Dorothy L Sayers, following on from my talk for the DLS Society.

Have His Carcase has featured before – Harriet’s vamping outfit (first ever entry on the blog), and her hiking outfit, and her general thoughts on fashion and women (which we feel justified in attributing to Sayers herself).

The other major outfit in the book is the claret-coloured dress. Harriet has ended up unexpectedly staying in a posh hotel, and has to buy something to wear for the formal dining arrangements. She mentions this to Lord Peter. He says:

“Well, get a wine-coloured one, then. I’ve always wanted to see you in wine-colour. It suits people with honey-coloured skin, (What an ugly word “skin” is.) “Blossoms of the honey- sweet and honey-coloured nenuphar” — I always have a quotation for everything — it saves original thinking.’

[The quote is from a lush Oscar Wilde poem called The Sphinx. Lord Peter's bit on 'original thinking' has now become an internet-y kind of quote in its own right, in a rather meta way.]

Harriet runs after Lord Peter and says:

‘Port or sherry?...The frock — port or sherry?’

‘Claret,’ said Wimsey. ‘Chateau Margaux 1893 or thereabouts. I’m not particular to a year or two.’

And the next thing we know, she is swaying round the dance-lounge of the Resplendent, in the arms of a professional dancer – in a claret-coloured frock.

I have a friend who is a Master of Wine, so I asked him which was the colour most like the Chateau Margaux, showed him a few dresses,  and he chose the one at the top of the entry, which is a Paquin design. He said he wouldn’t dare be so opinionated about a woman partner’s dress, & sent me this wine colourmatch chart and some helpful comments. 

With this right hand column recommended for claret:

Which suggest that actually an aged and wonderful claret would have more copper-y tones. But I don’t think that’s how we’re seeing it, any of us. And DLS got her wine wrong elsewhere, I believe, with the Chateau d'Yqem. (I have absolutely no expertise in these matters myself, I rely on others.)

Then recently I saw some ballet at the Royal Opera House, and thought this female dancer was definitely in a claret-coloured dress… You can’t say I don’t put in the research.

 

What seems certain is that the dress would have been biascut. Harriet/DLS, watching women in eveningwear, thinks 'The slender-seeming waists were made so, not by savage tight-lacing, but by sheer expensive dressmaking.'

During the 1920s, a designer called Madeleine Vionnet, along with other contemporaries, introduced the bias cut in clothes, particularly evening dresses, which did change the shape of women’s looks. It did not of course totally replace or get rid of corsetry, shapewear – that was the idea but honestly wasn’t going to happen - but it theoretically freed women up to look lovely in dresses that moved with them and had a flattering fit, this I think is what Sayers is referring to. It was a change from straight up and down, these below: 

 lovely dresses, but NOT bias cut – to something more flowing.

Below are the bias cut dresses, you can see the different silhouette:  

 It is even clearer in this picture from a sewing pattern –

 the dresses are pieced together here, the fabric having been cut on the bias ie if you can imagine, turned through 90 45 degrees [corrected, see comment below], so the warp and weft are on the diagonal. This gives structure and flexibility and honestly, just looks lovely. Still does.

 

DLS knew her stuff - even though she rather weirdly claims in the same scene that the women looked as though they were in the fashions of the 1870s. 

like this? I don't think so. We'll go back to this

Pictures from my files - because I was doing a presentation, I didn't meticulously note links and sources as usual!