White Feather Dress: From Boston's 1896 Tea Parties to Your Wardrobe

Dear Friends, over tea on a cold January day in 1896, two cousins in Boston, Harriet Hemenway and Minna Hall, set out to convince fashionable women to stop wearing birds on their hats. They had heard that Snowy Egrets in the Florida Everglades were being killed by plume hunters, and they took on the whole millinery trade, one tea party at a time. The result was the Massachusetts Audubon Society. A feather was once serious enough to start a movement.

 

So what can we take from that for a white feather dress. Mostly this: the feathers are the loud part, so keep everything else calm. Look for a clean cut, a clear idea about where the plumes go (hem, neckline or cuff) and a label that tells you what the trim is made of, since several below are listed as 100% ostrich feather. White shows every detail, which is why plain construction wins. (Dry cleaning comes with it, I am afraid.) Below are modern options, from mini to gown to a feathered top, that bring the idea into your own wardrobe. I went deeper on a related idea in Fall Capsule Wardrobe: The Blazer, the Slip Dress and Everything They Go With.

 

Start with the minis. The Bronx Banco halter is white with a full band of ostrich feathers at the hem, and it is dry clean only, so plan for that. Their Lola Blanc is strapless with an ostrich neckline and hem on a boned, fully lined bodice. The Attico mini in ivory keeps its feathers at the neckline and shoulders, with an open back, which is the quietest way into the idea. SIMKHAI's Kalla is covered in soft feather embellishment with a square neckline to steady it, and Retrofete's Ragna is white satin with a fluffy tonal hem. Retrofete's Susana is a crystal-dotted slip with a V-neck, thin straps and a feather hem.

 

My tip for October: wear any of them with opaque tights, a sleek black boot and small jewelry, and let a long coat do the rest.

In the early 1900s ostrich feathers were South Africa's fourth biggest export, and the Oudtshoorn farmers' association once gave Britain's Queen Mary a fan made of white plumes. Longer hemlines are where that history feels most at home, because a midi or a maxi gives the feathers room to move.

 

Mac Duggal does the tea-length idea best, in my view. The white sheath with ostrich-feather cap sleeves and a pearl-trimmed neckline is the softer one, and the strapless midi from the same label carries a deep feather hem on a column fit. Safiyaa's Aerine puts a dramatic ostrich bustline on heavy crepe. David Koma's cocktail dress adds a feather collar over the shoulders, which suits a house that launched in 2009 on sculptural, body-contouring dresses. For something airier, Jil Sander's ivory sheer silk knit is scattered with feathers and falls below the knee, and Miss Circle's Solene is a pleated halter maxi with a plunging neckline and a feathered waist. Loulou de Saison's Sonia is a white column with a wide band of feathers at the waist, a back slit and Italian making, and LIKELY's Taliah gown puts the feathers on the shoulders, above a cutout waist and a high side slit.

 

Fitting-room test: lift your arms, then sit down. Feathers at the waist or bust should stay put and not tickle your chin, and the hem should clear the floor when you climb stairs.

 

What I would skip: strapless midis for a long, cold outdoor evening, unless you plan to bring a wrap that will not crush the plumes.

Paris once had nearly 500 feather ateliers, in the 1920s, and now barely a handful remain, with Maison Lemarié the best known. It began in 1880 as a feather factory for finery, founded by the milliner Palmyre Coyette, and Chanel bought it in 2002. I think of that every time a hem is finished with plumes, because someone has to attach them.

 

This is the group for hems and cuffs, where the feathers frame your hands and knees instead of your chest. LAPOINTE's cream satin shift ends its long sleeves in big ostrich cuffs, and STAUD's Albee is an ivory mock-neck silk mini over a sheer overlay with a feathered hem. Clea's Cersie in parchment has a fluffy hem and thick straps, which makes it the easiest to wear in daylight. Milly's Raven is white metallic tweed with a faux feather hem, about 34 inches from shoulder to hem, with two side pockets. Miss Circle's Quilla turns the idea into a backless double-breasted blazer mini with crystal buttons and feathered cuffs. Christopher Kane's fitted wool-blend dress has an asymmetric ostrich hem, from a label he started in 2006 with his sister Tammy, and David Koma's plunging cady mini has sleeves made of an explosion of feathers. His strapless bridal version has a deep U neckline and an asymmetric wave of feathers. If you want to keep going, The White Fitted Dress Is The Whole Outfit is the one I would read next.

 

Buying test: bend your elbow and sit with your arms on a table. Cuff feathers should settle and not fan out into your coffee, and a hem should swing with a slow walk.

 

What I would skip: feather cuffs on a day full of typing or driving, because they flatten and tangle.

Self-Portrait was established in London in 2013 by Han Chong, and its two gowns here show how quiet a feather can be. In my fashion dreams it is a December wedding weekend, and the bride walks in wearing a gown that does very little except sweep the floor.

 

The Self-Portrait gown is a white high-neck column with a twisted back detail, a back slit and feathers at the hem. Their open-back lace gown is sheer, with rhinestone straps and a feather-trimmed hem. Elie Saab's cady gown has a V neckline, structured shoulders and plush feather cuffs, and Taller Marmo's Ubud is an ivory one-shoulder drape with ostrich feathers running down the side to an asymmetric hem, made in Italy. Safiyaa's Starlana is a long-sleeve bridal crepe gown with feathers at the neckline and shoulders. Mac Duggal's one-shoulder A-line has a feather shoulder accent and beaded line detail. From LaPointe there are two: a cream ruched V-neck with cap sleeves and feathers at the neckline, and an ivory satin halter with a high side slit lined with ostrich feathers.

 

White and ivory belong to the bride at a wedding, so if you are a guest, leave these on the rack. They are for brides, rehearsal dinners, vow renewals and any evening you want to own.

 

Fitting-room test: walk down a flight of stairs in your shoes. The hem should clear your heels, and the back slit or open back should hold in place when you turn.

 

What I would skip: sheer lace without a proper slip in a cold venue.

In 1897 Massachusetts outlawed the trade in wild-bird feathers, and in 1900 the Lacey Act followed at the national level. I bring it up because a feathered top or skirt asks you to wear the history lightly: one piece, in white, with everything else plain.

 

Loulou de Saison's Iona is a short-sleeve top with a plush cape of feathers across the shoulders and chest, and Valentino Garavani's oversized silk satin top ends its elbow sleeves in ostrich cuffs. Ramy Brook's Kelly is an ivory knit mock-neck halter top with a band of ostrich feathers at the hem, and it keeps the plumes low. Bubish's Gigi is a sheer ivory blouse edged in feathers at the neckline, cuffs and hem. For skirts, Milkwhite's white midi has a deep feathered hem, and Bronx Banco's Belle Blanc is a high-rise skirt layered in ostrich feathers with a thigh-high slit. Milly's mock-neck sweater is a wool-cashmere blend, about 21 inches long, with feathered elbow sleeves, and Cinq a Sept's cropped tee has a fringe of dyed ostrich feathers at the hem.

 

I would wear the top with dark straight-leg trousers and loafers, and the skirt with a fine-knit sweater and a trench. The sweater and the tee are the easiest day pieces on this page.

 

What I would skip: two feathered pieces in the same outfit. One is a point of view, two is a costume.

If you are starting from zero, I would choose the cut first, then the feather. Decide whether you want it on the hem, the neckline or the cuffs, and check the care label before anything else, because dry clean only is a real commitment in white.

 

Then try it in the way you will wear it: sit, lift your arms, walk a flight of stairs. Pick the version that stays calm while you do. For October, that means tights, a boot and a coat over the top.

 

Hemenway and Hall wanted feathers to mean something, and I like to think they would approve of the ones that are chosen with care. Pick one dress, wear it often, and let it be the loud thing in the room.

 

With love, and soft feathers,