Infant’s hand-embroidered dress, c. 1815-1820. Image @Vintage Textiles.
Whenever I view fashion plates and clothes from 200 years ago with Vandyke points, my gaze always lingers. I love these deeply indented trims and decorations, whether they are made of lace or cloth. These are sewn by hand! Imagine the work that went into them.
Vandyke points on the sleeves of a girl’s dress, 1815-1820. Image @Vintage Textile
Delicate muslin border. Image @Vintage Textile
These trims were named after Sir Anthony Van Dyck, a 17th-century Flemish painter (and popular portraitist for British royalty and the upper crust), who was known for painting elaborate V-shaped lace collars and scalloped edges on both his male and female sitters. The pointed vandyke beard was named after him. You can see an example of both in the portrait of Charles I below.
Anthony Van Dyck’s triple portrait of Charles I. Notice the scalloped edge lace collars and pointed vandyke beard.
Vandyke points are labor intensive. The edges you see in the sample of a child’s dress are sewn by hand, as are the tucks. One can only imagine how much time it took, but the results are striking.
Notice the Vandyke points. Love this Heideloff fashion image, 1794-98.
All of the lade edges were once hand-tatted; they are now machine made, but no less spectacular.
Modern reproduction of a regency gown using lace with vandyke points
Vandyke points edged skirts:
Muslin dress with vandyke edging, 1820-1825. Image @Christie’s
They embellished lace caps and collars:
Vandyke points on lace cap and on collar, detail of an Ackermann plate, morning gown, April 1812.
And edged necklines:
1818 ballgown with satin vandyke points edging
They were used to decorate hems:
Silk European dress, ca. 1819-22. Image @MetMuseum
And are still made for modern edgings:
Modern lacy knit with vandyke points
17th century antique clothes looked rich and splendid with these added lace embellishments:
Italian collar with sharp lace points, 1610
For embroidery stitches and lace tatting, click on the following link: Van Dyke online tatting: This article demonstrates how to tat your own Vandyke point lace. Warning. Time consuming. And the link in the caption to the image below:
Vandyke embroidery stitch – a nice way to fill in leaves and flowers. Image @Windy River embroidery stitch tutorial
More on the topic:
- Victorian Van Dyke lace points
- Bigelow Family Quilted Pelisse
- 17th c. Lace Gallery & Identification: Excellent examples can be found here
- Van Dyke Trim and Pinking: This tutorial shows explicitly how to make VanDyke trim.
- Sleeves and Van Dyke points
Rolinda Sharple’s painting of the Cloakroom at Clifton shows a number of dresses with vandyke points. This one demonstrates several rows of lace with scalloped edges, and sharp-edged embroidery patterns.
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Jane Austen's World 
I was never a fan because they remind me of shark teeth so I never thought they were romantic. Well, you changed my mind after this amazing post. Wonderful research and lovely pieces. Thanks!
Great information and fantastic pictures. I never even knew these had a name! Thanks for another great post.
I generally have not been a fan either, but you’ve changed my mind as well with the lace on the reproduction gown and the edging on the petticoat. Both are amazingly beautiful and the delicacy of the fabric softens the usual harsh line of the saw tooth/ Van Dyke. Great choices Vic!
I agree. Really lovely, and I loved all the detail. thanks so much for such an interesting piece.
The infant gown at the top of the post has details that were made using what today’s sewers call French Handwork. It is indeed very time consuming but those who do it find great pleasure in doing it. I’ve done just a tiny little sample of one or two of the stitches. There are magazines out there on French Handwork. They’ve now figured out how to replicate these stitches on certain expensive sewing machines. Just beautiful details!
So lovely. The blue girls dress is really sweet.
I loved the pics. The collars and dresses were amazing. I never knew this style had a name. (especially pictures 6-12)
I am very familiar with the Van Dyck stitch as an embroideress, and have seen the Van Dyck points on clothing. I never knew why these were referred to as Van Dyck though – just never researched where the name came from – sawtooth was obvious. A very interesting post, thanks so much.
So beautiful. I can’t imagine the work that went into them.
Reblogged this on Ella Quinn ~ Author.
The dresses are spectacular. I sew and can really appreciate the fine detail. Although the pictures are really great, it would be fun to see them in person. ~Jen Red~
c’ est vraiment très beau , tout fait à la main,
des ouvrages de Dames , des petites mains bien agiles
et il fallait du temps pour toutes ces ” coquetteris ”
mais l’ élégance etait à ce prix
edith
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well! or should i say well done! lovely. i will think of this differently. it reminds me of the hankerchief hems on dresses