Woman's Spencer Jacket and Petticoatcirca 1815

Not on view

Museum display of a women's Regency-era ensemble on a white mannequin: mustard-gold fitted bodice with puffed sleeves and button front, over a cream cotton skirt with layered lace hem trim, topped with a ruffled white cap

Early 19th-century ensemble displayed on a white mannequin: mustard-yellow wool spencer jacket with puffed shoulders and cutwork trim over a cream cotton skirt with tiered broderie anglaise hem flounces, paired with a white ruffled cap and lace collar.

Historic textile garment detail showing a gathered white linen petticoat attached to a golden-brown bodice with metal hook-and-eye fastenings along the waistband.

Close-up detail of a golden-ochre wool garment, showing a puffed and gathered sleeve head with applied fabric straps, double-breasted button placket, and white lace collar at neckline.

White cotton petticoat, close-up of lower skirt showing tiered ruffles alternating with horizontal bands of net lace insertion and applied ribbon bow trim along the hem edge.

Close-up detail of cream-colored needle lace with appliquéd fabric medallions featuring stylized floral motifs, outlined with raised buttonhole stitching against a fine net ground, displayed against a gold background.

Close-up detail of antique cream-colored lace textile, showing scalloped edges with looped fringe trim and a fine diamond-grid net ground, laid against a plain woven fabric backing.

Title: Woman's Spencer Jacket and Petticoat
Place Made: France
Date Made: circa 1815
Medium: Jacket: cotton plain weave; skirt: cotton plain weave with linen net and cotton plain-weave appliqués
Dimensions: Center back skirt length: 41 in. (104.14 cm); Center back spencer length: 13 in. (33.02 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Suzanne A. Saperstein and Michael and Ellen Michelson, with additional funding from the Costume Council, the Edgerton Foundation, Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer, Maureen H. Shapiro, Grace Tsao, and Lenore and Richard Wayne
Accession Number: M.2007.211.15a-b
Classification: Costumes
Collecting Area: Costume and Textiles
Curatorial Notes: The spencer, with its high neckline and long sleeves, provided much needed warmth when worn with lightweight Neoclassical gowns. It was named for George, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758–1834), who removed the tails from one of his coats in the mid-1790s. After a brief, unflattering life as a men’s garment, the spencer became fashionable ladieswear in the early nineteenth century. The Renaissance-style puffed oversleeves on this example reflect the contemporary taste for historicism.
Selected Bibliography: Takeda, Sharon Sadako and Kaye Durland Spilker. Fashioning Fashion: Deux Siècles de Mode Européenne, 1700-1915. Paris: Arts Décoratifs; Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: Delmonico Books-Prestel, 2013.
Takeda, Sharon Sadako and Kaye Durland Spilker. Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: Delmonico Books/Prestel, 2010.
Takeda, Sharon Sadako and Kaye Durland Spilker. Fashioning Fashion: Europäische Moden, 1700-1915. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: Prestel, 2012.
Edwards, Lydia. How to Read a Dress: a Guide to Changing Fashion from the 16th to the 20th Century. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017.

Woman's Spencer Jacket and Petticoatcirca 1815

Not on view

Title: Woman's Spencer Jacket and Petticoat
Place Made: France
Date Made: circa 1815
Medium: Jacket: cotton plain weave; skirt: cotton plain weave with linen net and cotton plain-weave appliqués
Dimensions: Center back skirt length: 41 in. (104.14 cm); Center back spencer length: 13 in. (33.02 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Suzanne A. Saperstein and Michael and Ellen Michelson, with additional funding from the Costume Council, the Edgerton Foundation, Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer, Maureen H. Shapiro, Grace Tsao, and Lenore and Richard Wayne
Accession Number: M.2007.211.15a-b
Classification: Costumes
Collecting Area: Costume and Textiles
Curatorial Notes: The spencer, with its high neckline and long sleeves, provided much needed warmth when worn with lightweight Neoclassical gowns. It was named for George, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758–1834), who removed the tails from one of his coats in the mid-1790s. After a brief, unflattering life as a men’s garment, the spencer became fashionable ladieswear in the early nineteenth century. The Renaissance-style puffed oversleeves on this example reflect the contemporary taste for historicism.
Selected Bibliography: Takeda, Sharon Sadako and Kaye Durland Spilker. Fashioning Fashion: Deux Siècles de Mode Européenne, 1700-1915. Paris: Arts Décoratifs; Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: Delmonico Books-Prestel, 2013.
Takeda, Sharon Sadako and Kaye Durland Spilker. Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: Delmonico Books/Prestel, 2010.
Takeda, Sharon Sadako and Kaye Durland Spilker. Fashioning Fashion: Europäische Moden, 1700-1915. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: Prestel, 2012.
Edwards, Lydia. How to Read a Dress: a Guide to Changing Fashion from the 16th to the 20th Century. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017.