Queen of Clubs

This design was created by Jules Helleu, possibly for Charles Frederick Worth. Costumes based on card games were popular, and this costume probably represents the Queen of Clubs. Rather than literally translating the court-card into a costume, the subject is suggested by taking a fashionable white crinoline dress with a flounced skirt and lavishly trimming it with black club motifs. A Swiss waist in black, with club-shaped tabs, and a wide band of black around the skirt with club cut-outs relieve the expanse of white. Even the model's boots are decorated with clubs.

During the 1860s, Empress Eugenie of France threw a number of extravagant masquerade balls which required the guests to wear elaborate and inventive costumes that were made up by Worth and other Paris dressmakers. Worth, a relative newcomer, became the Empress's favoured couturier at the end of the 1850s. This made him extremely fashionable, and the rest of the ladies of Eugenie's court also bought gowns from him - and so too did their husbands' mistresses, and anyone wealthy enough to afford Worth's very high prices. As a result, Worth was under great pressure to produce vast numbers of unique, one of a kind costumes and gowns, often at very short notice. This is one of a large number of similar designs and sketches that were given to the V&A as part of the archive and reference collection of the House of Worth, making it extremely likely that it was originally designed for a guest to wear to one of the Empress's magnificent balls.