About two weeks ago, we went shopping on Troy's River Street "antique row." At our favorite shop, I dug under a pile of old curtains and came up with two velvet valance panels in a pattern that looked remarkably like the pattern of the 1860s wallpaper in our little bay window sunroom. Lo and behold, when we got them home, they turned out to be exactly the same pattern!
This lucky find contrasts with most of my experiences trying to find appropriately Victorian fabrics. Our local stores in the big chains run heavily to "country," and while it's certainly possible to do a country style with Victorian charm, that's not quite the effect I'm after. Fortunately, there are many ways to achieve a Victorian look with fabrics.
The Reproduction Route
As with wallpapers, reproduction fabrics are available for a price. If you're decorating a special room, it may be worth splurging on a true reproduction of a documented Victorian pattern. Again as with wallpapers, it's often easier to find reproductions from the more "intellectual" late Victorian reform movements than from the neo-Rococo period. J.R. Burrows & Company sells late Victorian reproduction fabrics, including reproductions of Voysey designs. The company also sells Scottish lace curtains.
While Burrows sells directly to the public, many reproduction fabric companies do not. If you're working with an interior designer, you may have access to reproduction patterns from Schumacher, Thibault, and Brunschwig & Fils. These companies just don't let the public know what they stock! The catalog I intend to send away for, though it's a bit early for our house, is Circa 1820, which does sell to the public. They don't seem to have a Web site, but they offer museum-quality reproduction fabrics from 1790 to 1850.
The Real Thing
It's possible to find real Victorian fabric lurking in attics, antique stores, and flea markets. It helps if you live in a region that was somewhat urbanized and prosperous during the nineteenth century. It's also wise to educate your eye by looking at Victorian museums: there was a "Victorian" boomlet in the 1930s and another in the 1970s. If you find many, many yards of unfaded, unmoth-eaten fabric, it may be a reproduction.
When you find the real thing, it's likely to be in bits and tatters. One economical way to get a Victorian feel is to use your genuine period fabrics as cushions, or as the seats of chairs that get little use, then use neutral fabric for the remainder of your furniture and windows. Muslin is wonderful, authentic, and cheap for bedrooms, for a summer look, or if you want a somewhat modernist, monochromatic feel with just a few Victorian accessories. If you can order vast quantities of a good cotton velvet in burgundy, maroon, or deep green, you can use it everywhere as a background for Victorian treasures.
This lucky find contrasts with most of my experiences trying to find appropriately Victorian fabrics. Our local stores in the big chains run heavily to "country," and while it's certainly possible to do a country style with Victorian charm, that's not quite the effect I'm after. Fortunately, there are many ways to achieve a Victorian look with fabrics.
The Reproduction Route
As with wallpapers, reproduction fabrics are available for a price. If you're decorating a special room, it may be worth splurging on a true reproduction of a documented Victorian pattern. Again as with wallpapers, it's often easier to find reproductions from the more "intellectual" late Victorian reform movements than from the neo-Rococo period. J.R. Burrows & Company sells late Victorian reproduction fabrics, including reproductions of Voysey designs. The company also sells Scottish lace curtains.
While Burrows sells directly to the public, many reproduction fabric companies do not. If you're working with an interior designer, you may have access to reproduction patterns from Schumacher, Thibault, and Brunschwig & Fils. These companies just don't let the public know what they stock! The catalog I intend to send away for, though it's a bit early for our house, is Circa 1820, which does sell to the public. They don't seem to have a Web site, but they offer museum-quality reproduction fabrics from 1790 to 1850.
The Real Thing
It's possible to find real Victorian fabric lurking in attics, antique stores, and flea markets. It helps if you live in a region that was somewhat urbanized and prosperous during the nineteenth century. It's also wise to educate your eye by looking at Victorian museums: there was a "Victorian" boomlet in the 1930s and another in the 1970s. If you find many, many yards of unfaded, unmoth-eaten fabric, it may be a reproduction.
When you find the real thing, it's likely to be in bits and tatters. One economical way to get a Victorian feel is to use your genuine period fabrics as cushions, or as the seats of chairs that get little use, then use neutral fabric for the remainder of your furniture and windows. Muslin is wonderful, authentic, and cheap for bedrooms, for a summer look, or if you want a somewhat modernist, monochromatic feel with just a few Victorian accessories. If you can order vast quantities of a good cotton velvet in burgundy, maroon, or deep green, you can use it everywhere as a background for Victorian treasures.
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