Boy's Dress
Original OwnerOriginally owned by
Marcus Dwight Filley
(American, 1836 - 1839)
Clothing MakerMade by
Unknown
Date1838-1839
MediumHand-stitched wool and cotton, with wool tape and brass hooks and eyes
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (center back length x width across shoulders): 22 1/4 x 10 1/4in. (56.5 x 26cm)
ClassificationsCostume
Credit LineGift of Dorothy Filley Bidwell
DescriptionSmall boy's red twill-woven wool dress, with long, banded-down sleeves. The dress is constructed with a yoke, decorated with cream-colored soutache braid laid in a wavy pattern around the edges. The dress front and back are pleated into the yoke, with the pleats stitched down again at the waist and the fullness released into the skirt. The dress opens at center front for 9 1/2 inches; the opening is overlapped and forms a pleat to the bottom of the skirt. The opening is bordered with the soutache like the yoke; the soutache continues down the opening and around the skirt, four inches above the bottom edge. The neckline is high and round, bound with red silk tape. The sleeve fullness is pleated into the dropped shoulder and stitched down across the top of the arm with two rows of chain stitching in cream-colored silk thread. The fullness is released in the area of the elbow and then stitched down into pleats at the wrist, which close with a hook and eye. The wrist edges are faced with a narrow strip of printed cotton. The sleeve seam and wrist opening are piped. The yoke and waist line are lined with plain cotton. The dress is stitched with cream-colored thread, so that the tiny stitches show in the red wool fabric.
Object number1956.4.27
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