Maternity Dress
Clothing MakerMade by
Unknown
Dateabout 1836-1840
MediumHand-stitched silk, with silk fringe, brass hooks, and silk-covered wooden buttons.
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (length x width across shoulders): 54 1/2 x 19in. (138.4 x 48.3cm)
ClassificationsCostume
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Annie F. E. Murray
Object number1957.4.8a,b
DescriptionMaternity dress of brown, blue, and white silk plaid, with matching cape collar. The dress is styled with an "infant" bodice, the fabric being pleated into a yoke across the front and back shoulders. The dress opens at center back and the back waistline is gathered on a drawstring to allow for the wearer's changing girth, while the front remains relatively fashionable-looking. (There is no other closing mechanism stitched to the bodice, but there are puncture marks indicating that hooks and eyes or pins were used.) The front of the bodice is pleated into the waistline and into the yoke. The yoke in front is decorated with a self-fabric, piped strip across the bottom edge. The neckline is round, and the shoulderline is dropped. The full sleeves are pleated into the armscye, and banded down with a self-fabric strip 2 1/4 inches below the shoulder. This strip is decorated with self-covered, non-functioning buttons at each end (button is missing from the back of the right sleeve). The bottom of the sleeves are gathered into a 1 1/8-inch-wide cuff. The neckline, armscye seams, underarm sleeve seams, sleeve banding, cuffs, and yoke edges are piped. The dress is entirely unlined, which also allows easier fitting as the pregnancy advances. The skirt is knife-pleated into the bodice across the front, and gathered across the back. It is lined at the hem for about six inches with a reddish-brown silk, and finished with brown wool tape, which is a later addition. A 2 3/4-inch-wide tuck is taken in the skirt, about four inches above the bottom edge.
A separate cape collar (b) of matching silk would have covered up the unfashionable gathering in the back of the bodice. It is trimmed with brown silk fringe and it ties at the neck with brown silk ribbon.
NotesObject Note: This dress is accompanied by a matching pelerine. A popular fashion of the 1830s and 1840s, pelerines are separate wide, cape-like collars, often made of fabric corresponding to the dress fabric, or of white cotton usually decorated with embroidery. These collars sometimes had long extensions, called lappets, which hung down the front and were placed under a belt. This particular type of pelerine is sometimes referred to as a fichu pelerine. While pelerines could be used for modesty or warmth, their primary purpose appears to be as a decorative accessory. (DePauw 7/13/2010)A separate cape collar (b) of matching silk would have covered up the unfashionable gathering in the back of the bodice. It is trimmed with brown silk fringe and it ties at the neck with brown silk ribbon.
Status
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