Cream and Black Printed Silk Dress with Black Lace

VC2007033

Cream and Black Printed Silk Dress with Black Lace

Two-piece cream silk ensemble with black print and lace: boned, high-neck bodice with flutter sleeves, full skirt with bustle pleats and train.



; Cream silk ensemble with black print and black lace. Band collar covered in lace. Lace inserts trimmed with ruched ribbon. Ribbon tassels (2) at side closure (left). Flutter sleeve with diamond shoulder lace, ribbon trim. Under-sleeves missing. Black silk hem at waist with flower detail. Right front overlays left front, double breasted closure. Waist tape, hook and eye closures down center front and left front. Boning between shell and lining. (Lining might not be original.) Eyes at center back waist presumably for bustle hooks. Box pleat at center back. Backs of sleeves are gathered, as well as top into armscye.  Full skirt with bustle pleats and train; pleated hem with lace trim; wide, black, zig-zag ribbon yoke pieces of cream printed fabric. Silk satin cream wide waist ribbon.

1900-1904

Clothing and dress

34 inches (chest), 25.5 inches (waist), 60.5 inches (center front length), 69 inches (center back length), other measurements: Bodice: Chest 34, waist 26.5, CF length 26.5. CB length 18

Skirt: full waist 26.5, CF length 42.5, CB length 51,

Waistband: length 31 or 29, width 2.5

Physical Object

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

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34

25.5

60.5

69

Bodice: Chest 34, waist 26.5, CF length 26.5. CB length 18

Skirt: full waist 26.5, CF length 42.5, CB length 51,

Waistband: length 31 or 29, width 2.5

34 inches (chest), 25.5 inches (waist), 60.5 inches (center front length), 69 inches (center back length), other measurements: Bodice: Chest 34, waist 26.5, CF length 26.5. CB length 18

Skirt: full waist 26.5, CF length 42.5, CB length 51,

Waistband: length 31 or 29, width 2.5

small tag 'Remington'

Marcia Goldman Widenor

1900

1904

costume

clothing

good

a) good- a few stains and tears on outside, lining good shape

b) very good- a few stains

c) good

d) skirt has many stains of different sizes and colors, particularly on the front.

e) waist ribbon is missing closure and is fraying at both ends

new 7

L7

This black and white silk day dress, the silhouette of which dates it between 1900 and 1904, has one major element missing. The high-necked day dress would have had long sleeves. The unfinished lower half of the armscye physically tells us what research confirms: as a day dress from this period, this garment must have had undersleeves. It probably had fitted black undersleeves, likely from the same black lace that appears throughout the rest of the dress.
At the turn of the twentieth century, women were beginning to enter the public sphere in ways they had not before, but they were nonetheless expected to cover all of their necks and arms during the daytime. The modern, visually dynamic fabric of this conflict between new innovations and older conventions.
 While this skirt and bodice were in relatively good condition, there was still some conservation work to be done to ready it for display.  The black and white patterned silk was in good shape, but the more delicate fabrics had deteriorated.  In the bodice, the silk lining had shattered and was reinforced throughout.  The skirt's original lining had been cut out at the waistband, so separate petticoats are now used as the lining.  In both the skirt and the bodice, the black lace was torn, and black net was added to the lace to strengthen it to prevent further damage in stressed areas.  

Exhibited in "A Glimpse into Vassar's Secret Closet," 2010
Researched by Faren Tang ‘13
Stabilized by Julia Fields ‘12