Emilie Floge Was No One's Muse
Five Prompts to Inspire your Outfits this Week
On July 1st, 1904, Schwestern Floge opened its doors. The fashion boutique, owned by sisters Emilie, Helene, and Pauline Floge, sat on the first story of a pristine, white building in Vienna’s well-to-do 6th district. Open for thirty-four years, Schwestern Floge became a prominent fixture among Vienna’s fashionable upper classes. At the height of the store’s success, the sisters employed a staff of 80. Their popularity was driven by the revolutionary designs of one sister, Emilie.
In an era of layered skirts and cinched waists, Emilie Floge’s designs championed ease of movement. The dresses of her Reformer line were all designed to be worn without a corset. Their dramatic A-line shape was both sculptural and practical. Emilie’s pieces featured contrasting geometric motifs, big, colorful, prints, and bell-shaped sleeves. She took inspiration from the ornate embroideries and festival dress of Slovakia and Hungary. She filled their boutique with folk art, and not-for-sale handmade treasures, like carved dolls and checkered tables. A major player among Vienna’s bohemians, her designs inspired artists and architects.
Today, her astonishing accomplishments have been glazed over for a different title: Gustav Klimt’s muse. Klimt’s historians have pigeonholed Emilie into our modern definition of muse: ephemeral, impersonal, romantic. In reality, Gustav and Emilie were close friends and equal creative partners. They collaborated together on projects, and Emilie often supplied her own clientele to Gustav for portraits, and then designed the dresses he painted them wearing. Emilie was as much an artist as Gustav. But still, the myth of their muse and artist relationship persists.
If anything, Emilie’s skill and artistry is much more in line with the original muses. The muses of Greek mythology were ferocious, masters of their craft, and no one’s partner. The eight sisters represented a vast array of the arts, from epic poetry, to dance, comedy, and song. As goddesses, they could bestow the gift of creativity, but if their gift was used to discredit them, or if a mortal were to boast that his skills had surpassed the sisters, their retribution was swift and violent.
And while I have read no evidence that Emilie Floge was particularly vengeful, her skill, the foresight of her designs, and her business acumen, particularly as a single, childless, woman at the turn of the 20th century, deserves far more respect than the measly title of Klimt’s muse.
This week, all five outfit prompts are inspired by the designs of Emilie Floge and the original, Greek, idea of the muse.
Emilie used dramatic, geometric, black and white patterns in several of her designs, in a way that still feels entirely modern. Can you embrace geometric prints, or build an outfit that contrasts black and white in a bold, eye-catching way?
Emilie and Gustav on holiday, wearing her designs. The bell-shape of Emilie’s dresses is fantastic for the summer heat. The material protects you from the glare of the sun, but sits far enough away from the body to allow air flow. Can you dress yourself as a (hot) bell this week? Can you embrace this shape while also making an outfit that’s visually interesting?
If Emilie’s patterns and shapes don’t suit your wardrobe, can you take inspiration from her ideas? Her designs took up space and broke from the norm in a bold, artistic fashion. Can you wear an outfit that does that, too, but feels like you?
In several photos, Emilie is wearing her dresses with layers of long necklaces with big, bold, pendants. Can you try something similar?
Obsessed with this super long heart necklace Can you fashion yourself a muse? What would be your area of artistic expertise? How would you dress yourself to convey your artistry, your mastery? Can this outfit induce awe? Can it give you an armor of formidability?
As always, if these prompts inspire an outfit for you, please share it! You can send me a DM on Substack, or post your look in the Costume Parade chat. You can also tag me on Instagram or Tiktok.
If you have any comments about Emilie’s designs, or the modern interpretation of muse and artist, please leave them on this post! I’d love to chat.
Wishing you a week of ferocious artistic mastery!
Your friend,
Rebecca
I love this one!!! Feeling a bit confined by my monthly capsule to emulate the shape & designs, but I know there are lessons to be learned in the foundational sense. I’m also fascinated to know about the muse of one of my favorite artists! I can absolutely see it from her fashion and hair alone, but I never knew about this collaboration before. Thanks, Rebecca!