Liberty & Co.
Woman's Dresscirca 1895

Not on view

Full-length woman's dress on a display form, dark charcoal damask fabric with puffed sleeves, crossover bodice, short capelet, and cream lace cuffs and collar

Victorian-era dress displayed on a headless mannequin, rear three-quarter view; taupe silk damask with woven floral pattern, featuring a short cape collar, fitted bodice, and full skirt with extended train.

Dark brown silk damask dress displayed on a headless mannequin, featuring large puffed sleeves, draped bodice with crossover front, and cream lace collar and wrist ruffles; late 19th-century silhouette.

Close-up detail of gathered and draped olive-brown fabric, with deep folds radiating diagonally across the frame, showing tonal variation from light taupe to dark brown in the shadows.

Silk brocade textile in taupe-gray, with an allover woven pattern of chrysanthemum blooms and scrolling vines in tone-on-tone raised weave.

Close-up of woven textile with raised floral and scrolling vine pattern in dark brown and olive green, showing contrast between smooth ground weave and looped pile surface.

Close-up of woven textile with a repeating scrolling floral and foliate pattern in dark brown raised against a matte brown ground, showing detailed brocade or jacquard weave structure.

Close-up detail of a black garment with brocade panels and gathered cream silk ribbon trim; a woven label reads 'Liberty & Co., Artistic & Historic Costume Studio, Regent St. W.' in green lettering.

Label: Liberty & Co.
England, London, founded 1875
Title: Woman's Dress
Place Made: England, London
Date Made: circa 1895
Medium: Silk twill and silk twill with supplementary weft-float patterning, with silk plain weave
Dimensions: Center back length: 74 1/4 in. (188.6 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.2007.211.901
Classification: Costumes
Collecting Area: Costume and Textiles
Curatorial Notes: The tea gown—a loose, informal dress worn at home for afternoon entertaining—was a European innovation, inspired by traditional Asian garments. While some tea gowns appropriated the flowing lines of the Japanese kimono, this example’s intricate tailoring and interior boning are strictly Western in origin. It is the kimono-like crossover front bodice and luxurious silks that evoke the East. Contrasting plain and patterned silk textiles create the illusion of a two-piece ensemble. Historicizing details (such as the cape sleeves) and muted colors popularized by the Aesthetic movement were hallmarks of the Liberty & Co. department store, still in existence today.
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.

Liberty & Co.
Woman's Dresscirca 1895

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Liberty & Co.
Woman's Dresscirca 1895

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