THE TITANIC BUTTERFLY REPLICA HAIR COMB

Introduction

The Titanic sank beneath the icy Atlantic exactly 100 years ago. Yet the legend of the doomed liner remains today as haunting and compelling as ever. Among the most lovely and evocative pieces of Titanic memorabilia are replicas of the Art Nouveau butterfly hair comb worn by Kate Winslet as Rose in the blockbuster movie of that name.

This guide sketches the social and fashion background to the film, and examines the versions of this famous hair comb which have appeared.

Titanic the Movie.

In 1997 James Cameron produced a fictional account of this famous event. The film Titanic takes the form of an epic romance, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson and Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater. Jack and Rose are members of widely different social classes who fall in love aboard the liner during its ill fated maiden voyage.

In his film Cameron wanted to convey the emotional message of the tragedy, using the vehicle of a love story interlinked with human loss. Against the backdrop of the luxurious liner with its petty snobberies and strict divisions of class, the tragic love story of Rose and Jack is played out.

The movie is renowned for its lavish costumes and interiors, and for a number of iconic scenes. One of these is the famous “flying” scene where Rose stands on the bough of the ship with her arms outstretched, imagining herself to be completely free from the physical and social constraints imposed upon her by her class. It is in this scene that Rose wears the iconic butterfly hair comb, which has become one of the most sought after pieces of Titanic memorabilia.

Titanic as a Microcosm of the Edwardian World.

The Edwardian Era cannot be precisely isolated to the period of King Edward VII's short reign (1901-1910). In terms of customs and society the term Edwardian may be taken to mean the period which encompasses the mid 1890s to the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914. The Titanic era is 1912.

What is amazing about Titanic is the sheer variety of passengers who travelled on her. She was a veritable floating town, carrying passenger representatives from each strictly divided class along with valets, maids, nannies, kitchen staff, stewards, engine crew and officers. The Titanic passenger list ranged from the richest people in the world to the poorest, setting out to make a new life in America. It is perhaps the range of people on board with a wide range of reasons for travel which makes the ship’s story so fascinating.

The class system which existed at the time ensured that these different social castes neither met nor mixed while on board, except perhaps during the very last minutes of Titanic’s life. It is nowadays hard for us to imagine these rigid barriers between the classes which existed in late Edwardian times and the early reign of George V and Queen Mary.

Because of the image of apparent splendour and excess this period, has been represented as a lost “golden age” which was abruptly brought to an end by the outbreak of World War I. In reality, the golden age belonged only to Edwardian High Society, where wealth, birth and manners were the prime qualifications for commanding respect and obedience from others. High Society resembled a club, and the image was reinforced by a laborious set of rules and formalities which served to emphasise the distance between those in Society and those outside it.

Fashion in the Titanic Era.

The early years of the 1910s were an era of transition in fashion for women. Fashion was in the process of change from the rigid corsetry of the late Victorian era to the straight lines which we associate with the 1920s.

Illustration 1 shows a fashion plate with evening dresses from the Titanic era.
As the Victorian era waned women’s silhouettes shifted from the voluptuous S-bend (small waists, large bosoms, and curved rears) to a straighter, lighter line that seemed more natural and modern to contemporaries. Beginning in 1908, designer Paul Poiret led this new look which featured narrower bodices, slim skirts, and raised waistlines.