Bodice and skirt made of figured silk, Great Britain, ca. 1866

Bodice and skirt made of figured silk. Vertical stripes in blue with a chiné pattern border banding a panel of grey-blue with narrow black stripes. Machine and hand-sewn.

The bodice is fitted, fastens at the front, has a slightly high waist, a narrow collar, and long tight sleeves with a slit. Trimmed with blue silk bows which are bordered with clear glass beaded braid and silk fringe. A similar line of trimming is stitched across the bodice to suggest a yoke. There are harmonising glass stud buttons. Lined with cotton. Two small bones at the waist darts and on the side seams.

The separate skirt is gored and has a small train. It is pleated with the folds arranged so that they run from the centre-front double box pleat with inverted pleats at its sides towards the centre back.

Given by Miss M. Frobisher

This dress is a typical example of women’s fashionable day wear from the mid-1860s. The contours of the crinoline have altered from a bell shape to a profile that is fairly flat in front, with the bulk of volume at the back. The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine of 1865 reported the change as follows: ‘Dresses incline more and more to the Princess Shape. All the widths are gored, the skirt is scant and short at the front and forms a long sweeping train at the back.’ The subtle stripes of grey, blue and black are left unadorned, except for a bugle bead and silk fringe which decorates the bodice, the edge of the collar and the over-sleeves.

T.174&A-1965