Worth, Charles Frederick

Worth, Charles Frederick, 1825–95, French and British fashion designer. He was the founder of the Maison Worth in Paris and London, the longest running fashion dynasty, and the arbiter of women's fashions for more than a century. He first designed silks and then became court dressmaker to Empress Eugénie of France and Empress Elizabeth of Austria. He was responsible for the creation of the ancestor of the tailor-made suit and invented the puffed tunic called the Polonaise. He was the first to use live models to exhibit his designs. His descendants continued the business after his death. In 1954 the house was sold to Paquin, and Worth as a London wholesale house continued until the 1970s. Parfums Worth, created in the 1900s is still in business.

Bibliography

See E. Saunders, The Age of Worth (1955).

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Worth, Charles Frederick

Charles Frederick Worth, detail of an engraving

(credit: BBC Hulton Picture Library)

(born Oct. 13, 1825, Bourne, Lincolnshire, Eng.—died March 10, 1895, Paris, France) British-born French fashion designer. In 1845 he left England, where he had been a bookkeeper, and worked in a Paris dress accessories shop. In 1858 he opened his own ladies' tailor shop and soon gained the patronage of the empress Eugénie. He was a pioneer of the “fashion show” (the preparation and showing of a collection), the first man to become prominent in the field of fashion, and the first designer to create dresses intended to be copied and distributed throughout the world. He became the dictator of Paris fashion and was especially noted for his elegant Second Empire gowns. He invented the bustle, which became standard in women's fashion in the 1870s and '80s.