The House of Worth is considered the most influential and widely-recognized house of the nineteenth century.  Founded in 1858 by English designer Charles Frederic Worth, it is often suggested that the couture house produced its best work under the helm of Gaston-Lucien and Jean-Philippe, Worth’s sons. An exquisite dress designed by Charles Frederic’s successors and dated at 1898-1900, showcases Art Nouveau’s influence on fashionable dress of the period. The S-curved gown features swirling curls of black velvet woven onto a ground of white satin; the black tendrils emulating the vogue for decorative ironwork popularized in Art Nouveau design. For Valentino’s Spring 2013 couture show, designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli cited secret gardens and wrought irons gates among their sources of inspiration, showing a diaphanous white gown paired with a floor-length tulle cloak with embroidered black “ironwork.”

Comparison courtesy of: Anna Yanofsky