Black Silk Evening Bodice

Brief Item Record

Title: Black Silk Evening Bodice

Creator: Mary Blount

Date: 1891

Description: Black short sleeved evening bodice of silk satin with black net; label reads Mary Blount / Ogdensburg, NY; polished cotton lining; metal hooks and eyes; metal boning; black silk satin ribbon waistband; black taffeta bias tape on inside bottom edge; black short sleeved evening bodice 10 piece bodice (CB piece w/2 parts); short draped poof sleeves w/ several layers of satin + rust waistline pointed @ CF + CB straight seams - machine sewn; rest by hand; loop of black silk twill tape in F of arms eye (for hanging?)

Full Item Record

Dublin Core

Identifier

VC1992130

Title

Black Silk Evening Bodice

Description

Black short sleeved evening bodice of silk satin with black net; label reads Mary Blount / Ogdensburg, NY; polished cotton lining; metal hooks and eyes; metal boning; black silk satin ribbon waistband; black taffeta bias tape on inside bottom edge; black short sleeved evening bodice 10 piece bodice (CB piece w/2 parts); short draped poof sleeves w/ several layers of satin + rust waistline pointed @ CF + CB straight seams - machine sewn; rest by hand; loop of black silk twill tape in F of arms eye (for hanging?)

Creator

Date

1891

Subject

Clothing and dress

Extent

26 inches (waist), 13.5 inches (center back length),

Type

Physical Object

Spatial Coverage

Temporal Coverage

Rights

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

Rights Holder

© Vassar College Costume Collection. Images in this collection may be used for teaching, classroom presentation, and research purposes only. For other reuse, reproduction and publication of these images, contact costumeshop@vassar.edu.

Costume Item Type Metadata

Cataloguer with Date

Arden Kirkland 4/18/1993

Color Main

Closure

Costume Components

Waist

26

Center Back Length

13.5

All Measurements

26 inches (waist), 13.5 inches (center back length),

Label

Mary Blount / Ogdensburg, NY

References

Wilcox (324 (1890); Coleman, 52 (1890), 76 (1893)

Date Earliest

1891

Date Latest

1891

Culture

Gender

Classification

costume
clothing

Category

Exhibitions

Vassar Girls and Other Women

Public Information

This evening bodice and skirt are both displayed inside-out to indicate their inner construction. Their general silhouette, whether inside-out or right-side-out, represents the important transitional point between the curves and elaboration of the nineteenth century and the straight lines and simplicity of the twentieth century. The fullness of the earlier periods is present in the pouf sleeves of the bodice and the stiffened texture of the skirt; yet the strong, flowing line that gains precedence in the twentieth century is also present in the fitted shape, pointed front, and lack of extensive trimming of the bodice, and in the fitted waist and dramatic flare (rather than gathering) of the skirt. The strength of the solid field of color of either piece foreshadows the strength of the element of color in the 1920's.

Condition Term

very good

Condition Description

eyes missing @ CB closure

Treatment

1/19/2018 - Bodice was frozen for 48 hours and vacuumed. (Condition Report: Alexandra Figler)

Storage Location

M3

Exhibition Notes

16 white satin evening skirt, c. 1893 (inside-out to show construction) 1992.82b 17 black short sleeved silk evening bodice, c.1891 (inside-out to show construction) 1992.130 label: 'Marv Blount / Ogdensburg, NY' This evening bodice and skirt are both displayed inside-out to indicate their inner construction. Their general silhouette, whether inside-out or right-side-out, represents the important transitional point between the curves and elaboration of the nineteenth century and the straight lines and simplicity of the twentieth century. The fullness of the earlier periods is present in the pouf sleeves of the bodice and the stiffened texture of the skirt; yet the strong, flowing line that gains precedence in the twentieth century is also present in the fitted shape, pointed front, and lack of extensive trimming of the bodice, and in the fitted waist and dramatic flare (rather than gathering) of the skirt. The strength of the solid field of color of either piece foreshadows the strength of the element of color in the 1920's.

Work Type

Citation

Mary Blount, “Black Silk Evening Bodice,” Vassar College Costume Collection, accessed May 30, 2023, https://vccc.vassarspaces.net/items/show/802.