Dress
Clothing MakerMade by
Fanet & Beer
(French)
Dateabout 1875
MediumMachine-stitched and hand-stitched silk and cotton, with silk-covered buttons (possibly wooden), non-ferrous metal boning, and brass hooks and eyes
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (Bodice front length including fringe x width): 21 x 14 1/2in. (53.3 x 36.8cm)
Bodice (bodice front length, excluding fringe): 19in. (48.3cm)
Bodice (back length, including fringe): 25in. (63.5cm)
Bodice (back length, excluding fringe): 22 1/2in. (57.2cm)
Skirt (back length): 58in. (147.3cm)
Skirt (front length): 40in. (101.6cm)
Hem (circumference): 160in. (406.4cm)
ClassificationsCostume
Credit LineGift of Kristin Comstock
Object number1990.55.2a-b
DescriptionWoman's two-piece day dress, consisting of a bodice (a) and trained skirt (b), of deep purple silk faille, accented with pale lavender silk faille. The bodice has a pointed waist at center front and back; the bottom edge of the bodice is trimmed with a double row of piping and fringe made of lavender silk tassels tied with dark purple silk. The bodice closes at center front with four purple silk-covered buttons (three are embroidered with stars, and the fourth appears to be a replacement). The collar turns down to show the lavender silk. The waistline is high, measuring five inches at the side under the armscye. The sleeves end with a four-inch pleated ruffle of the purple silk, lined with the lavender, and topped with a gathered band of the lavender silk. The bodice is fitted with two six-inch darts on either side of the front opening; the darts are boned. Ecru silk lines the bodice, and a watered silk ribbon petersham hooks around the waistline to take pressure off the button closure.
The skirt is draped with an attached overskirt in two tiers pleated up the center front. The top tier is the purple silk, trimmed with a fringe of purple tassels tied with lavender; the second tier is lavender silk trimmed with a fringe of lavender tassels tied with purple. The overskirt is pleated into its own narrow waistband At the back, each tier is gathered up on either side of the center back opening, and decorated with a self-fabric bow in the lavender silk; purple silk ribbons tie it closed over the opening. (A brass pinch-hook is attached to a brass loop on the back of the overskirt; at the other end of the hook is another loop which has apparently torn free of where it was originally anchored.) The underskirt is decorated around the bottom of the front and sides with an 11 1/2-inch-wide gathered flounce of the purple silk, over a narrow ruffle at the hem of the lavender silk. The back panel of the skirt, which forms the train, is gathered up and scalloped over a flounce of the lavender silk. The bottom edge of the skirt is bound with purple wool tape. The skirt is lined with stiff, open-weave ecru cotton, with a finely pleated ruffle trimmed with lace inside the hem.
NotesHistorical Note: Deercliff Manor in West Hartford, Connecticut, belonged to Richard S. Ely, who left it to his daughter, Maude D. Ely. She married John Gibbons, a superintendent of Annapolis. It is believed that they never had any children. Maude D. E. Gibbons left the house to her first cousin, Graham Jones, Sr, for live use. His son, Graham Jones, Jr. sold it to Arnold Chase and Richard Gordon.The skirt is draped with an attached overskirt in two tiers pleated up the center front. The top tier is the purple silk, trimmed with a fringe of purple tassels tied with lavender; the second tier is lavender silk trimmed with a fringe of lavender tassels tied with purple. The overskirt is pleated into its own narrow waistband At the back, each tier is gathered up on either side of the center back opening, and decorated with a self-fabric bow in the lavender silk; purple silk ribbons tie it closed over the opening. (A brass pinch-hook is attached to a brass loop on the back of the overskirt; at the other end of the hook is another loop which has apparently torn free of where it was originally anchored.) The underskirt is decorated around the bottom of the front and sides with an 11 1/2-inch-wide gathered flounce of the purple silk, over a narrow ruffle at the hem of the lavender silk. The back panel of the skirt, which forms the train, is gathered up and scalloped over a flounce of the lavender silk. The bottom edge of the skirt is bound with purple wool tape. The skirt is lined with stiff, open-weave ecru cotton, with a finely pleated ruffle trimmed with lace inside the hem.
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