Dress
Clothing MakerMade by
Unknown
Date1865-1870, altered from an earlier style
MediumMachine-stitched and hand-stitched silk and cotton, with wool hem tape and brass hooks and eyes
DimensionsBodice (back length x width across shoulders): 25 1/2 x 18 1/4in. (64.8 x 46.4cm)
Skirt (length): 49in. (124.5cm)
Hem (circumference): 141 1/2in. (359.4cm)
ClassificationsCostume
Credit LineGift of Harriette Harrison
Object number1960.77.3a-d
DescriptionWoman's two-piece day dress, consisting of a bodice (.a) and skirt (.b), of pale, dusty pink. The bodice is styled with a deeply pointed waist in front and a broad, tri-lobed extension in the back. The neckline is high and round, and the sleeves are cut like a wide coat sleeve. The bodice closes at center front with brass hooks and eyes. Decorating the left edge of the opening are twelve buttons made of metal molds covered with silk in a star pattern on top of a disk. The wrist openings of the sleeves and the tail in back are edged with pinked self-fabric gathered over a cord; the sleeves are embellished further with an additional row of the gathering stitched in a "V" from the shoulder, and in a swag down the outside length of the sleeve. Two buttons are stitched at the top of the tail in back. The fitting of the bodice front is achieved with two seven-inch darts on either side of the opening. These darts are boned. The lining of the bodice is ecru twill-woven cotton, and very pale aqua silk in the tail. The bodice was altered to make it larger by letting out the side seams.
The skirt is flat in front and cartridge-pleated in back; there is a deep pleat over each hip. The skirt opening, which is to the left of the center front, decorated with a row of the gathered self-fabric. To balance the effect, there is another row of the gathering in front of the right hip. The skirt was altered to make it flatter in front around the mid-1860s; old fold lines from the former pleats are visible, and two lengths of fabric removed from the skirt (.c and .d) were given with the dress. There is an in-seam pocket on the right side, under the gathering. The skirt is lined with heavily glazed, plain white cotton of a light weight. The bottom edge is finished with wool tape. A length of the wool tape is stitched across the waistline in back for hanging the skirt in storage.
The skirt is flat in front and cartridge-pleated in back; there is a deep pleat over each hip. The skirt opening, which is to the left of the center front, decorated with a row of the gathered self-fabric. To balance the effect, there is another row of the gathering in front of the right hip. The skirt was altered to make it flatter in front around the mid-1860s; old fold lines from the former pleats are visible, and two lengths of fabric removed from the skirt (.c and .d) were given with the dress. There is an in-seam pocket on the right side, under the gathering. The skirt is lined with heavily glazed, plain white cotton of a light weight. The bottom edge is finished with wool tape. A length of the wool tape is stitched across the waistline in back for hanging the skirt in storage.
Status
Not on view
5 June 1862
