Liberating Fashion Review

                The review, namely the ”Liberating Fashion: Aesthetic Dress in Victorian Portraits”, is a piece of writing by Richard Dorment, the Daily Telegraph’s chief art critic who has devoted himself and his career to one of the major constituent of arts: the visual arts. The review itself concentrates on an exhibition on loan to Watt’s Gallery which tries to explore the issue of the often questionable taste in fashion of English women in the mid-Victorian era.

                The author tries to draw the readers’ attention to the fact that during this particular period there were women who could acquire stylishness and elegance and there were others who seemingly weren’t aware of the borders of the contemporary fashion. He supports his argument with mentioning the French historian and critic Hippolyte Taine who referred to this generation as “lamentable”. 

Richard Dorment focuses on some of the paintings seen at the exhibition; moreover, he gives factual examples in order to demonstrate his point even visually. The first couple of instances justify that there were still women dressing appropriately. Tissot’s “The Gallery of the HMS Calcutta”, Whistler’s “Mrs Leyland” and Burne-Jones’ “Lady Windsor” are all demonstrating the classically simple yet elegant way of dressing. These ladies were seen in a positive light by the painters and their costumes were obviously suitable and appealing for the “artistic eyes”.

However, “The Home Quartett: Mrs Vernon Lushington and her Children“, a portrait group by the Englishman Arthur Hughes, is just the manifestation of a foible, at least in terms of Aesthetic fashion. The mother and her daughters are dressed identically wearing curtain-like garment which, according to the author, could be regarded as a crime against fashion and “the artist who painted this terrible picture should be had up for offences against art”.

The final example is Watt’s Portrait of Sophia Dalyrmple, an Anglo-Indian beauty, whose caftan-like dress resembles the tunic of a monk with a rope around the waist. Even though the costume has some elements of the Bohemian style, Watt still decided to favour it.

To close the review Dorment summarizes what he had seen and concludes that the exhibition was fairly enjoyable, although “a clearer line of argument and a better selection of loans” would have been required.
Concerning the style of the review at first it might seem to be formal but at some points Dorment uses quite informal expressions such as “let’s face it”. The language was appropriate and contained many necessary and indispensable phrases. The tone of the author is enthusiastic, though often sharp and critical.

The text is organized into multiple paragraphs according to the order of paintings and it also follows a clear and logical contexture, thus it is easy to read and to understand as well. The topic of the essay is stated right in the beginning and it is followed by the main argument, supporting details and concrete examples with explanations. Finally there is a conclusion both of the era, the paintings and the exhibition, thus summing up the most important parts of the review.

                My personal opinion is that the review is a well-written and enjoyable piece regarding the organisation, the argument and logic of supports since it is easy to follow the comprehensible structure. The critic tone of the author is also something significant. The only questionable part is the language and the use of vocabulary since it contains some phrases which, I believe, should not be used in a professional review.