Blue silk velvet maternity dress, lined with blue silk satin, 1865-1879

Royal blue silk velvet maternity/nursing gown, fully lined with blue silk satin, machine-stitched with hand finishing. The dress has a shallow V-neck and long shaped sleeves which are gathered and slightly puffed at the sleeve head. The outer seams of the sleeves are French seams with the fold on the outside; the fastenings at the sleeve end have been removed. The dress, which is very full and made from eight panels with two gores at the centre back, falls from the shoulders without a waist seam. At the back the volume of fabric at the waist has been reduced by drawing the fabric into two box pleats with a band of shirring above. The back extends into a train. There is a small watch pocket on the left front breast and a patch pocket at the right hip. The dress is front fastening. There is an internal bodice front on the right side only made from the lining material which fastens to the left side of the dress with eight blue satin-covered buttons and five hooks and eyes. The dress has an internal waistband made from the lining material which closes with a metal buckle with three tines. The hem is interlined with stiffened cotton to a depth of 17.5cm and the lining finished with a band of ruched satin. The left sleeve incorporates a panel of different coloured blue velvet which has also been used for the left side panel and to create the gores at the centre back. The remains of stitches suggest that a collar and cuffs have been removed from the dress.

Given by Oriel and Alicia Robinson, direct descendants of the owner

This maternity dress was worn by Lady Eustace Cecil of Hatfield House. Her children were born in 1865 (Evelyn), 1872 (Blanche) and 1879 (Algernon).
Other garments worn by Lady Eustace Cecil are in the collection of the Museum of London.

From the late 1860s through to the middle of the 1870s women's magazines advised expectant mothers to adapt the construction of plain everyday garments to create clothes appropriate for the physical changes and demands of pregnancy and nursing. This rich blue silk velvet maternity and nursing dress was worn by Lady Eustace Cecil whose three children were born in 1865, 1872 and 1879. While its fabric is luxurious, its design and construction are practical. The dress falls from the shoulders with no waist seam and is front-opening. The bodice is not boned and the internal waistband fastens with a buckle allowing it to be easily adjusted. A pair of box pleats with a band of shirring above shape the back of the dress at waist height giving it form without constricting the body. Very few nineteenth-century maternity gowns have survived, so the dress is an important study piece.

T.66:1-2008