Jul 30, 2014
The Peacock dress is reputed to have been made of silk chiffon, but in fact, examination of the original dress quickly reveals that the embroidery was created on champagne coloured silk taffeta, backed with a layer of densely woven cotton muslin – presumably to...
Jul 29, 2014
The eye of each peacock feather is made from a tiny section cut from a beetle elytra (wing cover). This seems strange and unusual to us today, but beetle wings were, in fact, a common feature in Victorian embroidery, including embroidery on clothes. Some claim that...
Jul 28, 2014
Few paper records from the House of Worth survive, especially concerning special commissions, so we can only guess at the price Lady Curzon paid for the Peacock Dress. However, it is said that two thousand francs was not an unusual price for an average Worth evening...
Jun 30, 2014
The original Peacock dress is inevitably faded, tarnished, and damaged, despite the conservator’s best efforts, and has been heavily altered. It still conveys a fragile beauty, but it is a shadow of its dazzling original self, and must be minimally handled and...
Jun 29, 2014
The base fabrics will be embroidered in India by a team of skilled zardosi embroiderers. The entire embroidery work will take three to four weeks to complete. The skirt will be embroidered in one piece: a large expanse of fabric will be rolled up and stretched on a...
