Description:
Waistcoat done in white ribbed silk ground decorated with silk-embroidered pansies, leaves, and green trees, and with two side pockets outlined in lavender and blue, and a white plain weave linen backing. Philadelphia’s Centennial Exposition of 1876 sparked nostalgia for 18th-century customs, including dress. Those people who had access to actual period garments often altered them into “fancy dress” clothes that modern bodies could wear to Colonial Revival-themed events. This example, originally an item of menswear, was altered to fit a woman. Darts at the waist provide the fit required by fashion for women at the turn of the 20th century, more than 100 years after the garment’s original life.

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.730

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