38 Facts About Charles Worth

Charles Frederick Worth was an English fashion designer who founded the House of Worth, one of the foremost fashion houses of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Charles Worth is considered by many fashion historians to be the father of haute couture.

Charles Worth was the first to replace the fashion dolls with live models in order to promote his garments to clients, and to sew branded labels into his clothing; almost all clients visited his salon for a consultation and fitting – thereby turning the House of Worth into a society meeting point.

Charles Frederick Worth was born on 13 October 1825 in the Lincolnshire market town of Bourne to William and Ann Worth.

Charles Worth' father was a solicitor – described as "dissolute" – and left his family in 1836 after ruining its finances, leaving his mother impoverished and without financial support.

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Charles Worth arrived there speaking no French and with £5 in his pocket.

Charles Worth began sewing dresses to complement the shawls at Gagelin.

Charles Worth's obituary, written by a Paris correspondent for The Times explained this comment in somewhat more detail, saying that he was refused a share in the Gagelin business, even though he had extended its activities into making up, rather than just selling, garments.

Charles Worth had helped build the company's international reputation by exhibiting prize-winning designs to both The Great Exhibition of 1851 in London and the Exposition Universelle in Paris four years later.

Charles Worth acquired a young Swedish business partner, Otto Gustaf Bobergh, and in 1858 the duo set up in business at 7 rue de la Paix, naming the establishment Worth and Bobergh.

Marie Vernet Charles Worth played a key role from the start, both in the selling of the clothes and in introducing many new customers.

Success came fast from this point on; in 1860 a ball dress Charles Worth designed for Princess de Metternich was admired by Empress Eugenie, who asked for the dressmaker's name and demanded to see him the next day.

Charles Worth promptly replaced Madame Palmyre as the favorite designer and dressmaker of the Empress.

Charles Worth offered a new approach to the creation of couture dresses, offering a plethora of fabrics and expertise in tailoring.

Charles Worth changed the dynamic of the relationship between customer and clothes maker.

Charles Worth's wife was his early model in the 1850s, leading Lucy Bannerman to describe Vernet as the world's first professional model.

Charles Worth became Empress Eugenie's official dressmaker and ensured the majority of her orders for extravagant evening wear, court dresses, and masquerade costumes.

Charles Worth had him on call constantly to create dresses for events she attended.

Over time this included American clients; Charles Worth loved working with them because his French language skills never reached fluency and, as he put it, American women: "have faith, figures, and francs – faith to believe in me, figures that I can put into shape, francs to pay my bills".

Alongside high society, the House of Charles Worth produced garments for popular stars such as Sarah Bernhardt, Lillie Langtry and Jenny Lind – who shopped there for both performance and private wear.

Prices at Charles Worth were dizzying for the time; the last bill it issued to Princess de Metternich – who had commented on the end of the 300 franc dress once Charles Worth acquired royal patronage – was for the sum of 2,247 francs.

Charles Worth created unique pieces for his most important customers, but prepared a variety of designs, showcased by live models, that could then be tailored to the client's requirements in his workshop.

Charles Worth wanted to design a more practical silhouette for women, so he made the crinoline more narrow and gravitated the largest part to the back, freeing up a woman's front and sides.

Charles Worth created a shorter hemline – a walking skirt – at the suggestion of Empress Eugenie, who enjoyed long walks but not long skirts.

An 1885 example of the Charles Worth 'walking dress' is held at the archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Charles Worth closed his business for a year; he was able to reopen a year later, but wartime meant he had difficulty finding clientele, staying in business with lines of new maternity, mourning, and sportswear.

In common with other fashion designers, the House of Charles Worth was affected by the financial downturn of the 1880s.

Charles Frederick Worth found alternative sources of revenue in British and American customers and turned his attention to encouraging the struggling French silk industry.

Charles Worth was celebrated enough to receive a variety of obituary notices.

Le Temps, meanwhile, suggested that Charles Worth was of so artistic a temperament that he found England unsuited to his temperament and taste, and so gravitated to Paris, the city of light and beauty, to make his name.

Charles Worth was described as a "liberal contributor" to French charities and a keen collector of "artistic treasures and curiosities".

Charles Worth was buried in the grounds of his villa at Suresnes, according to the rites of the Church of England.

Charles Worth displayed garments at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, as it had at earlier great exhibitions.

Charles Worth regarded clothing as an art, and for the first time, designed clothing, not for a client's taste, but based on his impression of what women should wear.

Charles Worth presented finished model designs to clients and dress buyers in similar fashion to the modern-day haute couture designer, using live models.

Charles Worth was the first designer to label his clothing, sewing his name into each garment he produced.

Charles Worth Gallery opened in his home town at Bourne, Lincolnshire, containing a display of documents, photographs and artefacts at the Heritage Centre run by the Bourne Civic Society.

Early 1900s court presentation dress from Moyse's Hall Museum – House of Charles Worth was at the height of its success at the turn of the century.