Dress skirt (ensemble)

ID:

58.7/3b

Production date:

1861-1863

Location:

In Store

Skirt from a day dress in pale silver-grey silk, warp printed with a design of branches covered in leaves and flowers. These are in varying shades of light mauve and deep lilac, with fawn overprinting in grey, giving a greenish colour. The pleated frills which trim the edges of the open sleeves and the bodice are in sage green silk taffeta to match the inverted V shaped pleated inserts at the hem. Fawn braid trims both bodice and hem and the bow at the neckline is in pale greeny-grey silk ribbon.  < ...Read more

Skirt from a day dress in pale silver-grey silk, warp printed with a design of branches covered in leaves and flowers. These are in varying shades of light mauve and deep lilac, with fawn overprinting in grey, giving a greenish colour. The pleated frills which trim the edges of the open sleeves and the bodice are in sage green silk taffeta to match the inverted V shaped pleated inserts at the hem. Fawn braid trims both bodice and hem and the bow at the neckline is in pale greeny-grey silk ribbon.

Small pleated panels of sage green silk taffeta are stitched into slits in the hem for decoration. The hem is neatened with a 5 3/4 inch deep lining of light greenish-grey fine silk. The skirt waist has a ribbon waistband and bulky double pleats. the skirt is cut completely straight, without gores. Gored skirts are described in 'Le Follet' as early as 1859 as a means of achieving width at the hem without an excessive amount of material at the waist.

The dress is included in Janet Arnold's 'Patterns of Fashion: Englishwomen's dresses and their construction c. 1860-1940' (Macmillan 1966, pages 20-21). < Hide

Measurements

L 1150 mm (centre front); L 1340 mm (centre back); C 690 mm (waist), L 1310 mm (overall); C 680 mm (waist); W 1940 mm (skirt full extent) (overall)

Materials

silk; cotton; metal

Last Updated

2024-03-26