Description:
Woman's one piece dress of narrowly and vertically striped blue-gray and white silk, possibly imported from China. The bodice has a rounded (jewel collar) neckline, self-piped, and closes center front to a plachet in the center front of skirt. There are ten brass hook and eye closures; the top one is missing. The shoulder seams are dropped, towards the back. The only two vertical bodice seams are at the back, below the shoulder seams, one from each armscyes to waistline. These two seams are diagonal, rather than curved. The armscyes are dropped, and edged in self-piping. The bell shaped sleeves are gathered and fitted at the top four inches, flaring out to a maximun width of 24.0" at each cuff and trimmed with 1.0" long matching applied blue and white fringe. The entire sleeve is cut on the bias, helping it to hang better when on the wearer. The self-piped waistline is straight across the back of the dress, coming to a shallow 'V' at front opening. The wide, round skirt is cartridge-pleated into the bodice all around; and is made up of seven widths of fabric, each 22 1/2" wide. There is no train. The bodice is lined in a plain weave cotton. The front of the skirt is lined in a white cotton mesh; the rest of the skirt in a cotton printed with small blue flowers. At the inside hem of the skirt is a glazed cotton facing 4 3/4" deep. The skirt is lined in both a small, all-over printed cotton as well as an open weave white cotton (gauze?). There is a brass ring sewn onto inside of waistline, 3/8" in diameter. The dress is expertly hand stitched and in good condition overall. There is a tear drop shaped mend/patch of self fabric at proper left back of skirt, near waistline. The underarms show wear in the form of dicoloration, abrasion. The bodice lining appears to be discolored as well. The fashion fabric has eroded at the center front waist area, and some of the piping has deteriorated at the neckline (proper right side).
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+1998.22.1 |
