Day Dress
1910 (made)
| Place of origin |
This lightweight day dress with a high neckline, short sleeves, and a full-length skirt was constructed from white cotton lawn with dots and tucks and machine-made embroidered lace featuring floral details. It follows the 'S-bend' silhouette which pushed the bust forward and the hips back. The style and shape are typical of mid-1900s fashionable British womenswear, but the garment can be dated to around 1910. The dress features machine-made lace but would have been very labour-intensive to construct being made from numerous panels.
The dress was worn and given by Viscountess Gladstone, who was married to the first Governor-General of the Union of South Africa, a colonial role established in 1910. The garment is thought to have been worn during the winter 1910-1911. It shows signs of alteration and was donated to the V&A in 1937.
The dress was worn and given by Viscountess Gladstone, who was married to the first Governor-General of the Union of South Africa, a colonial role established in 1910. The garment is thought to have been worn during the winter 1910-1911. It shows signs of alteration and was donated to the V&A in 1937.
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Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Cotton lawn, machine-made embroidered lace, hook fastenings |
| Brief description | Day dress, white woven cotton lawn with white machine-made embroidered lace, Britain, about 1910 |
| Physical description | Day dress in one piece of white cotton lawn and white machine-made embroidered lace. There are floral details on the lace and dots and tucks on the lawn. The dress has a high neckline and short sleeves which gather into layered cuffs. Lace falls over the waistline to exaggerate the 'S-bend' silhouette of the dress. With this silhouette the bust was pushed forward and the hips back. The full-length A-line skirt flares slightly at the bottom. This garment has been constructed from numerous panels and appears to have been altered slightly. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Viscountess Gladstone |
| Object history | Registered Papers 4572/1937 The dress was worn and given by Viscountess Gladstone, who was married to the first Governor-General of the Union of South Africa, a colonial role established in 1910. The garment is thought to have been worn during the winter 1910-1911. It shows signs of alteration and was donated to the V&A in 1937. |
| Summary | This lightweight day dress with a high neckline, short sleeves, and a full-length skirt was constructed from white cotton lawn with dots and tucks and machine-made embroidered lace featuring floral details. It follows the 'S-bend' silhouette which pushed the bust forward and the hips back. The style and shape are typical of mid-1900s fashionable British womenswear, but the garment can be dated to around 1910. The dress features machine-made lace but would have been very labour-intensive to construct being made from numerous panels. The dress was worn and given by Viscountess Gladstone, who was married to the first Governor-General of the Union of South Africa, a colonial role established in 1910. The garment is thought to have been worn during the winter 1910-1911. It shows signs of alteration and was donated to the V&A in 1937. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.155-1937 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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