1900s Black Silk Dress With Train
Juliette Tallet
Black Silk Dress With Train, circa 1902
Vassar College Historic Costume Collection, VC1992105
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The era of modernization led to advances in industrialization that made fashion more accessible while also widening the gap between the elite and the lower classes. High fashion, a medium often intended to showcase the wealth of the wearer, further emphasizes divisions between social classes by remaining accessible to those who could afford to purchase luxurious and intricate pieces of clothing.
Dating from circa 1902, this dress was constructed by French dressmaker Juliette Tallet, who worked and resided at 115 E. 30th street in New York City, as is indicated by a label on the interior of the garment. As a dressmaker, Tallet’s services would have been a luxury reserved for the wealthy during a period in which the production of ready-to-wear clothing was on the rise. Mail-order catalogues and department stores grew in popularity around the turn of the twentieth century which enabled consumers to purchase machine-made items such as shirtwaist tops and skirts. Despite fashion becoming more accessible to a variety of consumers, the services of a dressmaker or tailor would have continued to remain accessible to only the affluent.
Society women, who had the money and resources to keep up with the frequently changing fashion trends, would commission dresses that reflected the latest styles in Paris. In her book, History of Fashion, Blanche Payne describes clothing from the Edwardian period as utilizing “a bewildering assortment of variations in cut, plus a range of decorative treatments” in a given year. Lower and middle-class women simply could not keep up with the fluctuating styles and for the most part, wore machine-made clothing that was simple with fewer style variations. On the other hand, society ladies would have changed at least four times a day and owned dresses for varying occasions such as day dresses, tea dresses, promenade wear, and evening gowns.
Fashion Plate, 1899
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library
Fashion plate from The Delineator, August 1908
This unique garment was constructed in a manner which reinforces that it was intended for a member of the upper class. As was customary, women would have worn a corset that shaped their figure and helped to “flatten the abdomen, lower the bustline, and give a thrust outward at the back of the hips.” This silhouette, referred to as an s-curve, emphasized the severely corseted waist by exaggerating the mono-bosom and throwing the hips back to achieve the same effect as a bustle. The use of the corset constricted movement and controlled how women presented themselves during every-day activities such as eating and walking. From various observations, it has been determined that this dress was likely a tea or day dress, as is indicated by the inclusion of a floor-length skirt with a “sweep” at the back. Even though daytime walking dresses from this period tended to have variations in length and shape, they were uniform in that they did not include the use of a train, a feature often reserved for evening gowns. Additionally, the length of this sweeping train suggests that this garment was intended for inside wear, unlike walking length dresses whose skirts did not touch the ground. The sweeping train of the garment combined with its long sleeve and high neckline line all reflect features that are similar to the tea gowns or day dress of the period. This garment is a fantastic example of early twentieth-century high fashion, and its construction further indicates the role of fashion in broadening class divides, as only someone with considerable means could afford to purchase such a luxurious garment.
- Lucy Postal, '22
Detailed view of metallic embroidery
Dressmaker's label on interior of garment
Detailed view of lace and embroidery on the back of the garment