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Collections

Woman's Dresscirca 1885

Not on view
White cotton dress ensemble on a mannequin, featuring a fitted bodice with eyelet lace trim and a tiered skirt with scalloped broderie anglaise edging
White cotton dress displayed on a mannequin in three-quarter profile, featuring a fitted bodice with ruffled lace trim, high collar, long sleeves, and a full skirt with tiered eyelet lace flounces at the hem, consistent with late 19th-century silhouette.
White cotton dress displayed on a mannequin, seen from behind, featuring a fitted bodice with long sleeves, bustle silhouette, and tiered skirt with lace trim at hem and cuffs.
Close-up detail of white cotton textile with broderie anglaise, featuring cutwork floral and wheel motifs with scalloped edges layered over plain white fabric.
Title
Woman's Dress
Place Made
Europe
Date Made
circa 1885
Medium
Cotton plain weave with cotton cutwork embroidery (broderie anglaise) and cotton needle lace
Dimensions
A) Center back length: 24 1/2 in. (62.23 cm); B) Center back length: 43 1/2 in. (110.49 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.2007.211.850a-b
Classification
Costumes
Collecting Area
Costume and Textiles
Curatorial Notes

From the late 1860s, skirt volume shifted to the posterior. This day dress illustrates the extreme bustle silhouette popular by the 1880s, which was characterized by a protruding fullness to the back. By necessity, these dresses were constructed with a separate bodice and skirt.

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.

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