Party Frock
1944 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
No Sleep for Mother, or How Jane Got her Party Dress
One day in 1944 Jane received a surprise invitation to a party. She was only four years old, and very much wanted to go to it – parties happened very seldom because of the war – but she had grown a lot recently and her party dress was too small for her. Her mother, Elizabeth, couldn’t buy her a new one, or even enough fabric to make one, because she would have to pay for it with coupons as well as money. This was the wartime rationing scheme: each person had only a limited number of coupons, and the family had none left at that time. But Elizabeth had thought of an idea, although by now it was the night before the party. When Jane had gone to bed, she got out her sewing things and every scrap of spare fabric she could find in the house. She sat up all night cutting and stitching, and in the morning, there was Jane’s new party dress – cleverly made out of all the different pieces stitched together into patchwork.
One day in 1944 Jane received a surprise invitation to a party. She was only four years old, and very much wanted to go to it – parties happened very seldom because of the war – but she had grown a lot recently and her party dress was too small for her. Her mother, Elizabeth, couldn’t buy her a new one, or even enough fabric to make one, because she would have to pay for it with coupons as well as money. This was the wartime rationing scheme: each person had only a limited number of coupons, and the family had none left at that time. But Elizabeth had thought of an idea, although by now it was the night before the party. When Jane had gone to bed, she got out her sewing things and every scrap of spare fabric she could find in the house. She sat up all night cutting and stitching, and in the morning, there was Jane’s new party dress – cleverly made out of all the different pieces stitched together into patchwork.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 3 parts. (Some alternative part names are also shown below)
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| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | Girl's patchwork party dress, with two photographs of her; UK, 1944 |
| Physical description | Patchwork of silks and cottons of a variety of colours. Girl's frock of mulicoloured patchwork in silks (including patachute silk) and cottons, the dress has a squared neckline with an organdie frill, and padded puffed sleeves are lined, and the gathered skirt had a built-in organdie petticoat with a hem frill. The fress fastens at the back with five pearlised buttons and stitched buttonholes. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Mrs Elizabeth Pearce |
| Object history | Made for Mhairi Elizabeth Jane Irving Draper, known as Jane (b. 1940) by her mother Elizabeth |
| Summary | No Sleep for Mother, or How Jane Got her Party Dress One day in 1944 Jane received a surprise invitation to a party. She was only four years old, and very much wanted to go to it – parties happened very seldom because of the war – but she had grown a lot recently and her party dress was too small for her. Her mother, Elizabeth, couldn’t buy her a new one, or even enough fabric to make one, because she would have to pay for it with coupons as well as money. This was the wartime rationing scheme: each person had only a limited number of coupons, and the family had none left at that time. But Elizabeth had thought of an idea, although by now it was the night before the party. When Jane had gone to bed, she got out her sewing things and every scrap of spare fabric she could find in the house. She sat up all night cutting and stitching, and in the morning, there was Jane’s new party dress – cleverly made out of all the different pieces stitched together into patchwork. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | MISC.265-1983 |
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| Record created | April 26, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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