Pink and Grey Bustle Ensemble

circa 1876
VC1992001

The woman who owned and wore this dress was wealthy, based on the quality and expense of the fabric used, as well as the fact that she could afford a dress made especially for dinner. If correctly dated, the dress was worn in the years immediately following the Panic of 1873, a financial crisis that crippled the American economy. The crash was precipitated by booms in building –predominantly the new railroads – and exacerbated by large banks’ speculative lending practices. The crash caused massive unemployment across America, spurring the American labor union movement and directly responsible for the formation of several unions. A woman who was able to keep up with current fashions, hire a dressmaker, and afford expensive fabrics in a time of such economic despondency was certainly a moneyed woman.

At the end of Peterson’s February 1878 etiquette article, the author makes note that, “No dress is now considered too rich for a large dinner table. But as a true woman should never exceed her means, let her, if she has not the bright, rich dress, wear the best and prettiest she has, brightening it up as well as she can; and with a determination to be amiable and agreeable, she will hold her own with the best dressed at the table.”

The authors of this broadly distributed magazine realized that not all women could afford a brand new dress, especially one made just for their dinner parties. Times were still tough for Americans in 1878, and few would have been able to afford such fine dresses. These authors were giving etiquette advice to all their readers, most of whom were probably struggling financially. Regardless of income, however, the women of the 1870’s were witnessing social changes, as well as significant changes in their clothing, and this dress is an artifact of a changing society.

Researched by Madeleine Boesche ‘13 and Faren Tang ‘13 
Stabilized by Madeleine Boesche ‘13 and Candace Schuster