Peggy – The Sketch – Wednesday 15th March 1911
“WOMANLY” HAREM SKIRTS AT THE GAIETY: THE JUPE-CULOTTE IN “PEGGY.”
The particular form of jupe-culotte worn in the new Gaiety play is described as “womanly.” and has met with considerable appreciation. The photograph shows (from left to right) Miss Billy Eade, Miss May Kennedy, and Miss Marie Deane. – [Photograph by Central News.]
The Sketch – Wednesday 15th March 1911
Gabrielle Ray – Peggy – The Tatler – Wednesday 15th March 1911
The Highway of Fashiom: By Marjorie Hamilton.
The Jupe Culotte.
WERE further testimony required that feminine caprice loves novelty it would be found in the welcome that has been accorded to the jupe culotte or pasha trousers. It must, however, be recollected that although all the world is talking about them few women have had the temerity to wear them in the public thoroughfares. Personally 1 do not believe that they will be popular albeit the majority of the modistes are showing them; as a matter of fact it is really to satisfy the curiosity of their clients as everyone is desirous of obtaining a view of them. Madame Paquin has set her face against them from the outset, contending that they are far from graceful. Naturally the divided skirt of the sportswoman is quite a different affair. Further more, as the back view is far from becoming, in the modified forms a floating panel or very broad ribbon sash is introduced which springs from above the waist-line where evening and reception dresses are concerned.
Across the Footlights.
Many, however, will contend that the foregoing remarks are rank heresy should they have seen the idealised jupes culottes worn by the chorus in Peggy the new play at the Gaiety, in which the culottes are of satin and the over dresses of embroidered silk voile. The colour schemes are quite beyond description; there are to be found the whole gamut of purple, rose, khaki, green, and blue shades, but then it must not be forgotten that these lovely affairs are seen amidst appropriate surroundings. In striking contrast to these extreme creations is the simplicity of the dresses worn by the principals. Miss Gabrielle Ray as Polly Polino is seen in an extremely simple high- waisted shell-pink charmeuse dress, while Miss Enid Leslie as Diamond, the barmaid, wears a pale blue satin dress and a little lace apron finished with a broad sash at the back. Her cap of lace and ribbon is the newest phase of the Quaker bonnet, and should be noted by matinee devotees as they could wear one of a similar character without fear of obstructing the view of those behind them.
The New Colour.
There is a wonderful charm about the new colour, chaloupe red; its elusive shades are seen to the greatest advantage in the dress worn by Miss Phyllis Dare, which is decorated with a double row of buttons from just above the bust-line to the hem of the skirt; at the base of the column of the throat a lace turn-over collar edged with embroidered ninon is introduced, below which is a draped delft-blue bow. The cynosure of all eyes is Miss Olive May’s (Doris Bartle) it will be recalled that she is the daughter of the American multi millionaire hat of white tagal straw built on the lines of a modern fireman’s helmet embellished with two ostrich couteau plumes, one white and the other black, while her dress is of white silk with a pretty draped corsage.
Fascinating Bathing Dresses.
In the second act Miss Phyllis Dare, Miss Gabrielle Rae, and Miss Olive May assume fascinating bathing dresses of pink and white silk well-nigh concealed by bathing wraps; it is indeed a pretty sight to see them reclining in their chaises longues. A few words must be said en passant regarding a lovely gown worn by Miss Phyllis Dare; the fourreau is of the palest blue silk veiled with shell-pink chiffon, the hem bordered with diminutive roses, which is just discernible beneath the rather flat pannier drapery of silver and white striped gauze. Over her shoulders is arranged an attractive white chiffon wraplet edged with a handsome fringe; the last but certainly not the least attractive detail of this toilette is the quaint little head dress of lace and silk reminiscent of the revolutionary bonnet.
Fashionable Millinery.
In spite of the many excursions into the realm of novelty which have recently been essayed by the advanced milliners, it must be confessed that the large hat still pursues the even tenor of its way; naturally it has rivals, but they cannot be regarded as very formidable. Pictured on this page is a quartet of fascinating head-gear epitomising La Mode’s latest commands. As will be observed, the pretty little motor bonnet is reminiscent of those worn during the Revolution, while the modified Napoleon is worn at quite a different angle than was formerly deemed correct. A very pretty model which recently made its debut was built on the lines of a modern fireman’s helmet, the crown encircled with a wreath of tiny ribbon flowers.
The Spell of the Magyar Broken.
At last the spell of the Magyar sleeve is broken, and in the new models the sleeves are put in separately from the corsage, but little fulness is permissible over the shoulders, and there are signs on the horizon that ere many weeks are over the bell sleeve will lead the van. Quite a novel idea is the insertion of a panel beneath the arms of the same material as the trimming of the dress. For instance, a dress of blue serge with a half- tunic of striped blue-and- white foulard with revers of the same on the corsage would have a vandyked panel beneath the arms of foulard, the stripes arranged vertically, the reverse of the tunic. The half- tunic is quite a novel idea and very effective; it springs from the folded sash in front and terminates some 6 in. above the hem, and need not be of a transparent material. It commences about 4 in. from the right hip, is brought over the left hip, and finally loses itself at the back beneath the left fold of the box pleat.
Consistency in the Choice of Jewellery.
There are many women to whom the appropriate comes naturally, and they would never dream of wearing jewellery which would strike a discordant note in the toilette. For instance, they would not don heavy ornaments with the present “blown-together” dresses, but would select designs in which delicate traceries with small drops predominate; they know that it would be false art to do otherwise. With the jewellery in the salons of the Parisian Diamond Company, 143, Regent Street, W., the ideal has been achieved, and the modern vraie elegante will find a veritable embarras de choix in chef d’oeuvres of the jeweller’s art which will directly appeal to her susceptibilities.
The Tatler – Wednesday 15th March 1911
Gabrielle Ray – Peggy – Graphic – Saturday 11th March 1911
THE HAREM SKIRT and OTHER EASTERNISMS in the THEATRE
The Gaiety is an institution which has no twin in the other theatres of London. Just as some play houses are supposed to be “unlucky,” the Gaiety seems unable to make a failure, even when it is largely deserved. This explains the true meaning of the “notices” on “Peggy,” produced from a French original to Mr. Leslie Stuart’s music last Saturday. It is not a lively adventure by any means – a view which was pretty frankly expressed by various “boos” at the fall of the curtain. The professional critics felt distinctly bored; but, distrusting their own emotions as an index, in view of similar boredom on first night productions of the past which have subsequently run into hundreds of nights of crowded houses, they suppress their personal weariness in the conviction that Mr. Edwardes will “pull the thing together,” as a conjurer picks sovereigns from your empty pocket.
On the present occasion, however, he will have a task of unusual difficulty, because, however much he may brighten and lighten the subject matter of the entertainment, his performers are strangely lacking in the personality that has stood him in good stead in the past. There is much to laugh at in Mr. Edmund Payne, who figures as a hotel hair dresser engaged to a lady like manicurist (Miss Phyllis Dare), who is deeply attached to him goodness knows why. On the other hand, Mr. George Grossmith, the adaptor of “Peggy,” has allotted himself (as an impecunious “swell” a very poor part, while with the exception of Miss Gabrielle Ray, as a vaudeville artist, Polly Polino, who, in the long run, annexes the barber, not a single woman in the cast is to be compared with such a personality as Nellie Farren or Letty I.ind, or Connie Ediss, or Gertie Millar. There are, of course, the same troop of pretty girls in fascinating frocks, but all of them, except Miss Ray, are colourless. Miss Phyllis Dare, whose preceding “and” on the programme proclaims her the star in the mind of the manager, has improved greatly of late, and looks very pretty. She does her work quite efficiently, but she seems to do it with a good deal of effort, and with in sufficient spontaneity which is the essence of comedy.
Miss Olive May, with the best of the songs, “The Lass with a Lasso,” is deficient in the same direction. Miss Gabrielle Ray has many disadvantages. Her voice is of the childish piccolo order she does not attempt to act in the forceful way of the old comediennes, but she possesses – perhaps she could not tell you how or why – a certain authority, which makes her fill the stage when she is on it and get “across the footlights.”
Mr. Stuart’s music is thoroughly characteristic. Since he wrote the continuous rhythmic melodious type of musical comment to “Florodora,” he has developed more and more on these lines, either writing his own words or getting a lyrist to write something to suit the music in contradistinction to the old style which made the music suit the words. It would be impossible to read them, but they arc effective as sung. One real novelty, however, is the introduction of little boys, to which, I believe, we are originally indebted to Mr. Hicks – or was it to Mr. Royce, who has produced “Peggy”? The little fellow who dances the “lasso” song with Miss Ray is a genuine find.
For the rest, “Peggy” is gorgeously dressed. Mr. Edwardes has included the much-discussed harem skirt, but he has also been true to the British traditions of the Gaiety by engaging Mr. Comelli to design a gown on more gracious fines, the hobble giving way to a fuller skirt.
‘The harem skirt is not the only Eastern fashion of the moment, for in addition to a tentative performance of a morality play about Jacob and Esau at the Little Theatre, we are having a sort of aftermath of Salome -isms, which have been given additional life by the recent production of Mr. Wilde’s strange play at the Court Theatre, with Miss Adeline Bourne as Salome. At the Palladium a Miss Sackville West is giving Oriental dances, while the Hippodrome has acquired an actual Eastern in the person of Sahary Djeli, and the wonderful “Sumurun” has introduced Coliseum audiences to the whole atmosphere of the Arabian Nights.
The curious part of it all is that the disciples of this new school of dancing have come from the West and not the East, for it is America which has produced the best exponents – Miss Isadora Duncan, Miss Loie Fuller, Miss Ruth St. Denys (of snake dance fame), and Miss Maud Allan, to all of whom Sahary Djeli owes a good deal. And she is not the only dancer so affected, for the Russian ballet-dancers who burst on Paris last year as a perfect revelation, and who are shortly to be seen at Covent Garden, have grafted on to their purely gymnastic technique much of that interpretative power which turned the old primitive alphabet of conventional ballet into a language – to be seen at this moment in its perfection in Miss Maud Allan’s art at the Palace. Enormous advance has indeed been made in the cultivation of dancing as a mode of expression since those days when the clog dancers, and still later the twinkling feet of the Gaiety, exhausted our conceptions of the dance.
It is not only in this branch of art that we have advanced. By staging Miss Johanna Redmond’s playlet, “Falsely True,” a story of the Emmctt rebellion, the Palace has taken a step that would have been absolutely impossible, say, twenty years ago, when our idea of the Irishman went no farther than the comic man. “Falsely True” is a brilliant little play, because it fits into its place at the Palace, and is not merely an item stuck empirically into the programme.
THE EASTERN SKIRT AND ITS VARIANTS AS WORN IN “PEGGY,” THE NEW MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCED AT THE GAIETY THEATRE
AN EASTERN PLAY – ISAAC, ESAU, JACOB AND REBECCA AT THE LITTLE THEATRE
The Elizabethan Stage Society on Monday gave at the Little Theatre a matinee of “Jacob and Esau,” an interlude dating from 1568. It is one of the most curious and interesting of the latter “Morality” plays, and has never been seen on the stage since it was first acted, probably in the reign of Queen Mary. The costumes worn by the characters were reproduced exactly from Rembrandt drawings, and the stage lighting was arranged to give a “Rembrandt” effect.
The Graphic – Saturday 11th March 1911
Gabrielle Ray – Peggy – The Bystander – Wednesday 22nd March 1911
The well known Gaiety smile is rampant in “Peggy,” perhaps because the new production boasts three leading ladies, Miss Olive May, Miss Phyllis Dare and Miss Gabrielle Ray.
Gabrielle Ray – Peggy – The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News – Saturday 4th February 1911
6. MISS GABRIELLE RAY,
The well-known musical comedy artist, who is rehearsing for the new Gaiety Theatre piece.
Gabrielle Ray – Peggy – The Tatler – Wednesday 15th March 1911
THE LETTERS OF A WORLDLY WOMAN
All the frocks in Peggy at the Gaiety are too utterly ravishingly delightful for anything, and the play is all one wants and looks for! A detachment of the S.P.C.A. would, I should think, have a field day there were it a punishable offence to wear more than £50 worth of aigrettes at one time, for the becoming ornament flourishes positively in bushes. Edna May’s “Ornamental Purity Brigade” also might get a look-in, for there is not, needless to say, a petticoat on the stage from start to finish, though there are some quite fascinating things in trouser skirts.
The new leading lady, charming Miss Phyllis Dare who has acquired I see yet another new motor of the latest torpedo shape – remains true, of course, to the “little girl” simplicity type, as also Olive May and Gabrielle Ray, both ravishing in muslin and embroidery and lace like very expensive babies, and looks perhaps her very best in a dainty frocklet in which sky blue, pale pink satin, and rosebuds play a prominent part under a white straw bonnet with pendant ribbons.
The Tatler – Wednesday 15th March 1911
Gabrielle Ray – Peggy – Forest Hill & Sydenham Examiner – Friday 15th December 1911
“PEGGY” AT THE GAIETY THEATRE
The revised edition of “Peggy” at the Gaiety Theatre goes with a fine swing, and is now one of the best things of its kind in town. Of course the music plays a most important part, and when it is known that Mr. Leslie Stuart is in his happiest vein, success in this direction is assured. Mr. George Grossmith’s part of Auberon Blow is now taken by Mr. Louis Bradfield, who is admirably suited for the part. Mr. Robert Hall repeats his former successes at the Gaiety as Hon. James Bendoyle M.P, and Mr. Edmund Payne, keeps the house laughing the whole time he is on the stage. Of the ladies in the cast Miss Phyllis Dare is very fascinating and vivacious as Peggy Barrison, and sings with marked ability, while the Dorris Bartle of Miss Olive May, leaves nothing to be desired.
A word must not be omitted for Miss Connie Ediss who is very happily cast as Lady Snoop, and wins much applause for her quaint witticism, and Miss Gabrielle Ray, as Polly Polino scores heavily. Space will not permit to deal with the other parts which are all capitally played, and the scenery and setting are of a most elaborate description and well maintain the reputation of this elegant house of entertainment.
Forest Hill & Sydenham Examiner – Friday 15th December 1911
Gabrielle Ray – Peggy – The Langport and Somerton Herald – Saturday 11th March 1911
OUR LONDON LETTER
It will out take long for “Peggy” to become all the rage. Is certain to be as popular as “Miss Gibbs,” and is an altogether more delightful person than “Havannah.” The new Gaiety musical play, indeed, is exactly what everyone expected it would be – quite all right. The story about Peggy doesn’t matter. It is quite a trivial part of the show. The things that really do matter are the songs and the music, the dances and the fun, the girls and their dresses. These are the elements which make for long runs at the Gaiety, and they are all in the new play. Miss Phyllis Dare as “Peggy” is more delightful than ever, Miss Gabrielle Ray runs her very close as a merry music hall artiste, Miss Olive May as the daughter of a supposed millionaire is winning all hearts. Mr. George Grossmith is splendidly ridiculous as ever as her papa, Mr. Edmund Payne as the hairdresser in a swagger hotel keeps you laughing all the time, and – well, there you are. That is “Peggy.” For the rest, there are crowds of beautiful girl, in ravishing costumes, a waltz as deliciously dreamy as anything that ever came from Vienna, and pretty songs and funny ones by the dozen. “Peggy,” in short, is just thong for the Gaiety, and is certain of quite as long a run as her very successful predecessors.
The Langport and Somerton Herald – Saturday 11th March 1911
Gabrielle Ray – Peggy – The Weekly Dispatch (London) – Sunday 26th February 1911
New Gaiety Play.
Next Saturday evening Mr. George Edwardes will reopen the Gaiety Theatre with the new and as yet unnamed musical comedy by George Grossmith jun. and C. H. Bovill, from the French of Leon Xanrof, with music by Leslie Stuart. This play has been eleven works in rehearsal, and has had to undergo many changes before it pleased Mr. Edwardes. He thinks of calling it either “Pretty Peggy” or “Three Girls,” but may take yet another title instead of these before the curtain goes up. I hear from people in the company that Miss Phyllis Dare will make a very greet personal hit, and that Miss Gabrielle Ray will do the same. They both have personality and charm and are very popular. The comedians are the best the Gaiety Theatre has had – Mr Edmund Payne, Mr. Grossmith jnr., and Mr. Robert Hale. The demand for seats for next is enormous, and, as usual, the Gaiety Theatre will have and audience representative and distinguished.
The Weekly Dispatch London – Sunday 26th February 1911
About
One of my main interests is a love of old pictures and postcards that give us a brief glimpse into a past and often forgotten age.
Collecting old postcard and pictures enables the viewer to glimpse a brief moment from that individual’s life; often far removed from their own either by the passage of time or social class. Social History, often described as “history from below” shows everyday people, their social structure and the interaction of different groups; like the wealthy and politicians these people helped shape and maintain society and so shape history.
Examining the images one can’t help but wonder how the individuals lived, were their lives hard compared with today and were they happy. Often the images come with little or no information that can answer these questions, one can only imagine.
With each image saved and seen by others, so that moment, that person is kept alive, our understanding is increased and so our lives are enriched.
A picture is often more descriptive than words can ever be, but how true is this, if a picture enables us to gain entry to another time, another world, will, like the view from a different window, even in the same house provide a different image?
These images allow a glimpse into another time, another era; but what preceded or followed this image? As the individuals were positioned and posed like an artist’s model is what we see truly reflective or like the slightly softened image of an aging beauty a less that truthful representation?
I am reminded of a documentary I watched several years ago regarding the returning troops from the front during the First World War. The camera images show a broken, demoralised sea of humanity, young men who having seen images that most of us hope never to witness had lost that sparkle; that zest which only youth has. But bring on the news camera and that battered returning group came to life, the smiles returned and even though muddied and bloodied their heads and bodies became erect, their arms swung in time and they demonstrated a swagger that spoke of courage, defiance and determination; an image that gave hope to the viewer.
It seems to me that even in the early days of photography all was not what it appeared and now in the advancing digital age a picture may paint a thousand words but will it be factual or fiction?
My interests And collections vary from Maids, Nuns, religious dress and the more risqué images of the French Maid. Often when searching for a particular subject the boundaries cross and as well as true Maids we find Edwardian actresses dressed as Nuns or Maids. During one of my searches I came across Gabrielle Ray dressed as a Maid, “Susan” in Lady Madcap and was instantly captivated by her.
Collecting the individual cards isn’t enough; I like to know more about the individual, which is easier when that person is an actress, although often the information is scarce
Searching for information about Miss Ray I discovered that she was one of the most photographed women of the Edwardian era and described in “Temps” as the most beautiful woman in the United Kingdom; but sadly her success, if measured by being visibly working or in the public eye was short-lived. She struggled with depression and alcohol abuse, and her health declined. In 1936, she suffered a complete mental breakdown and was institutionalized for nearly forty years; dying in 1973 at Holloway Sanatorium at the age of 90.
There are several other sites and blogs dedicated to the memory of Miss Ray and my intention is to share my small but growing collection of pictures and postcards with anyone who shares my interest. Reading about Miss Ray I was saddened that this lady, like many others before and since, after a brief moment in the sun they are soon forgotten. Hopefully as people view and enjoy this blog her memory will remain alive for a little longer.
I have started to write a short Biography about Miss Ray which I will try to update as frequently as possible. The Index page will show any updates under the Biography catagory.
I have also tried to link the various postcards and pictures to the plays in which Miss Ray appeared, however I realise, after several errors that this isn’t an easy task as many are decorative studio poses rather than production images. The individual Rotary, Philco and other publishers numbers are included with any description which should make searching for a particular card or ones from the same set easier. If I have made any glaring errors please feel free to let me know.
Thank you and I hope you enjoy my collection as much as I do.
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