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.

Subjects:
Textile fabrics; Linen; Silk

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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