When you are looking at famous named designers, I think that most everyone can agree that Charles Frederick Worth was the original. He is a name that you see over and over again in fashion history, and for good reason. Worth revolutionised both the design side of fashion, and the business side. He dressed the biggest names in society, on both sides of the Atlantic. (Many of these historic garments still survive in museums to this day.) This Style File Friday is looking at the Style History Charles Frederick Worth, and the House of Worth.
The Early History of Charles Frederick Worth
While his Parisian fashion house was the height of taste and elegance, Charles Frederick Worth was actually an Englishman. He was born on 13 October 1825 in Bourne, Lincolnshire, to William and Ann Worth. His father was a solicitor, but was fairly useless and abandoned the family in 1836. Given that they had no money, Worth was sent to be an apprentice to a printer in London. However, a year later, he became an apprentice at the Swan & Edgar department store in Picadilly. Just over a decade later, he was hired by the textile department store Lewis & Allenby. While he lived in London, he would often visit the National Gallery. You can spot some of the details he saw in paintings there in his designs.
The Big Move to Paris
In 1845/6, at the age of 21, Worth decided to move to Paris on his own, despite not speaking any French. French textile manufacturer Gagelin (who sold silks, shawls, and a few ready-to-wear garments) hired him and he slowly began to flourish there. He quickly became their top salesman. Worth was allowed to open up a small dressmaking department, finally making his own designs. “He contributed to the reputation of the firm with prize-winning designs displayed in the Great Exhibition in London (1851) and the Exposition Universelle in Paris (1855).” (Met Museum) Given how popular these exhibitions were, his designs would have been seen by hundreds of thousands of people at all levels of English and French society.
The House of Worth
Worth opened the House of Worth in 1858 (with a business partner). Like many people, some of his success was just down to excellent timing. According to the Met Museum, “Worth’s rise as a designer coincided with the establishment of the Second Empire in France. The restoration of a royal house in 1852, with Napoleon III (1808–1873) as the new emperor, once again made Paris an imperial capital and the setting for numerous state occasions.” In 1860, Princess de Metternich wore one of Worth’s ball gowns, and the fashionable Empress Eugenie loved it. Worth almost immediately became the favoured French court dressmaker, and his business flourished.
“The Father of Haute Couture”
We’ve looked at Paul Poiret, “the King of Fashion”, and Norman Hartnell, “The First Knight of Fashion”. Impressively, Worth is known as “the Father of Haute Couture”. Worth did have some pre-made designs ready to show clients at his fashionable salon that they could customise. His gowns tended to be quite elaborate, with historic elements, a lot of intricate details, and luxurious fabrics to complete the image. (If you ever see a surviving Worth gown in person, you will understand why they were fit for an empress.)
Interestingly, instead of visiting the client at home like most other dressmakers would do, clients would visit Worth’s salon to be fit for garments (aside from Empress Eugenie). People would visit simply to be seen, an invaluable marketing tool. He also had live mannequins (aka models) wearing the garments, a novelty for the time.
Importantly, he altered designs to make wearing them easier. Crinolines in the mid-nineteenth century had ballooned, which could make walking, sitting, and really anything a bit of a challenge. He reduced the size of it, and kept it largely to the back, allowing women more freedom to move. Worth also offered a shortened hem, to the ankle, to allow for easier walking.
A Worth Wardrobe
Empress Eugenie was certainly his most famous and celebrated client. However, everyone who was anyone knew that they needed a Worth gown. And quite often, it wasn’t simply a gown but rather the entire wardrobe. Many American socialites would travel to Paris to order and fit an entire Worth wardrobe, to last them until they would make the pilgrimage back to Paris again.
He also created gowns for the beautiful Empress Elisabeth of Austria (aka Sisi). The English also loved Worth’s designs (and didn’t have nearly as far to travel…). Royal favourites Lillie Langtry, Sarah Bernhardt, and Jenny Lind all favoured Worth gowns.
The House of Worth Continued… And Then Closed
Worth died of pneumonia on 10 March 1895. His two sons, Gaston and Jean, had joined the House in 1874 to help out and learn the business. In the last decade or so of his life, he suffered from several different health issues and his sons took on more and more of the day to day work. They took full control of the House after he passed, and by the time his grandson had control in the 1920s, they had diversified to perfume, as well. However, by the 1950s it faced increasing competition from French fashion houses. The House of Paquin took over in 1950, and by the mid 1950s, the haute-couture division ceased to operate.
It was revived in 1999, and put out a few collections in the 2010s, but it simply was not enough to fully revive the House of Worth.
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Further Readings
Saunders, Edith. The Age Worth: Courtier to the Empress Eugenie. Indiana University Press, 1955.
Krick, Jessa. “Charles Frederick Worth (1825-1895) and the House of Worth.” Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Dressed: A History of Fashion Podcast. “Founding Father of Haute Couture: Charles Frederick Worth” episode.
If you are interested in reading some of my other Style History profiles, you can find them below:
Were you familiar with the history of the House of Worth?
Cheers,
The Historian
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