Court Presentation Dress with a distinctive asymmetrically puffed skirt. Bodice and sleeves are in pink silk tulle with sequin embroidery and rhinestone trimming, with a flower ornament at the right waist. The train of silk tulle embroidered with sequins and rhinestones layered over silver lamé taffeta is 263 cm long.
This court dress was worn by Willia Alice Wilson Page (1858-1942) when she was presented to King George V and Princess Mary at St James’s Palace on February 14, 1914 with her husband, Walter Hines Page (1855-1918), who was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1913 to 1918. In line with rules for court dress, she wore this dress with a feather plume in her hair.
Maison Worth was founded in 1857 by Charles Frederick Worth (1825-1895), becoming the leader of 19th century Paris mode, and appointed couturier to Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. Worth’s list of clients included women from the Russian royal family and other royal and noble families worldwide, but also extended to actresses and some of the most famous demimondaines (courtesans). After the death of Charles Frederick Worth, his sons, Gaston-Lucien Worth (1853-1924) and Jean-Philippe Worth (1856-1926), took over management and design. Jean-Charles Worth (1881-1962) joined Mason Worth as successor to his uncle, Jean-Philippe Worth, in the 1910s.