COVE

In Character:

This dress was given to me by Mr. Darrell for my portrait "Cressida". The dress itself is extremely beautiful but quite out of date and I stood in awe at the initial glance. Despite its beauty, the dress is quite revealing, similar to the gray dress I wore when I first met Mr.Darrell . Sitting in a position for hours on end for a portrait is quite exhausting but it is nothing compared to the work Gerty and Lucy make me do sometimes. The dress does make me feel more than myself when Mr. Darrell begins to paint me. His gentle gaze makes me feel welcome and I don't like to admit it but I have begun to get attached to him. According to Mr. Darrell, the dress helps represent Cressida due to its similar features to her most common depiction where she is seen in a white dress. I have yet to see the “Cressida” play so I still don't understand the whole idea. I just can't wait for the rest of my sisters to see me in the dress. I think they will compliment me with all of their highest praises or Gerty will exclaim for me to continue working. Fanny would compliment for sure. Lucy is questionable. She is the middle between both Gerty and Fanny so she is quite unpredictable at times. Even though the dress is beautiful, I can't wait for the portrait to finally be completed. I have spent days on end in the dress for Mr. Darrell and I am truly excited to see the final result. 

Editor:

In the item above, we can see the main differences in dressing styles in the Victorian Era when compared to modern-day culture. The dress above is a night gown dress from the late 1800s and early 1900s in Britain. Contrary to normal dresses of the time, this dress above is revealing as stated by the author. As stated previously, the dress is known as a night gown and is mainly worn when a married couple is sleeping next to one another due to its revealing nature so a gift of this dress could be seen as a viewing of beginning a courtship. Returning to the ideas behind Cressida, Cressida was a play made by the Greeks but was reimagined so a British Audience would watch it during the Vicotrian Era. The name Cressida implies that the play had a rather large effect on the Middle to Upper-class British citizens, specifically the ideas of a faithless lover. The specific use of calling the portrait Cressida is used to exemplify the beauty of the portrait and those in it with the play Cressida being about the greek Woman Cressida and her beauty. Another thing that can be drawn from this is that the dress depicted in the item above is relatively expensive and only worn by those who can afford it. This dress will appeal to those who have seen the actual play and will help the portrait appeal to the upper class. The idea of Cressida also plays into the idea of a lover with no loyalty and this can be seen with the said “affair” Mr.Darrell and Phyllis have. This portrait that is explained in this notebook entry displays the ideas of Cressida the play and the culture behind dresses in Victorian-era Britain.

Citations

1905. “Evening gown by House of Worth” Edwardian fashion, Edwardian dress, Victorian fashion. April 16th, 2021.https://tinyurl.com/7vccs426