Dress
DressmakerMade by
Unknown
Dateabout 1845
MediumHand-stitched silk and cotton, with brass hooks and eyes and baleen boning
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (length x width between shoulders x hem circumference): 56 1/4 x 18 x 105in. (142.9 x 45.7 x 266.7cm)
ClassificationsCostume
Credit LineGift of Emory Robotham
DescriptionWoman's day dress of pale golden-olive silk with a woven design of floral sprays alternating with square blocks in a checkerboard pattern. The dress is constructed with a yoke across the front and a high, round neckline. The bodice front is pleated into the very slightly dipped center front waistline, with the fullness fanned out and gathered into the bodice of the yoke. The short sleeves are set smoothly into the armscye; the arm openings are cut in vandyke points and bound with self-fabric. The skirt is knife-pleated into the waistline, with the pleats facing each other at the center front. The dress is piped at the neckline, waistline, armscyes, and across the bottom of the yoke. There is an in-seam pocket on the right side of the front; the pocket bag is plain, undyed cotton, as is the bodice lining. The sleeves are lined with cream-colored glazed cotton, and the hem is lined for a depth of 8 1/4 inches with brown glazed cotton. The center back opening extends for about 24 inches and fastens with brass hooks and eyes. The lining in the front is fitted with four 9 1/2-inch-long darts, which are boned, along with the center front seam of the lining; the proper right side of the bodice opening is also boned. The lining is slightly longer than the fashion fabric in front, which makes it bunch up above the boning; this may have been deliberate, to make the bodice gathering more prominent. The lining in the back is smooth.
Object number1998.108.10
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