Dress
Date: ca. 1815 Culture: American Medium: cotton Dimensions: Length at CB: 54 in. (137.2 cm) Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Florence Inniss, 1970 Accession Number: 2009.300.943
In typical museum fashion, whilst looking for something else, I found something I didn’t know I wanted.
I’ve been asked to portray an 1812 milliner in Salem this coming August (which feels like next year but will soon be Ohmygoodness that’s TOMORROW) so I’ve been getting a start on images of bonnets and hats and gowns and things because you know I’ll have to have something new. Have to. And there at the Met was this garment, unassuming and bronze-looking in the thumbnail of catalog hits and ever so much more so when you get up close.
I recommend getting quite close to really appreciate the print. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen something similar in the quilting cottons, Amy Butler or Kaffe Fasset, and of course I’m tempted. Wouldn’t you be? How often do you get to mix historic costumes and Op-Art?
Mostly only if you’re a textiles curator at the MFA, where you should check out the Quilts and Color show if you get the chance.
Kitty Calash 
Beautiful garment! Viewing it up close is a treat, indeed: the ruffles, the piping around the armholes, the stitching of the buttons. Especially delicious is the bodice piecing that is visible on “her” left shoulder and that moment when the button lines up with the polka dot.
Thank you so much for this post!
P.S. That quilt show looks fabulous too.
You are so welcome!
The quilt show is worth a trip. The installation is striking and elegant, and the quilts themselves unusual. I didn’t have time to see if there was a book, but there probably is.
As fascinating as the print is — and it IS — I was even more capitvated by construction details, especially the very wide spacing of buttons on the skirt (did she have a shortage?) and the added panel at the skirt bottom. Makes me wonder if its pieced? Can’t imagine it was added later for another wearer, as the color is so consistent. Did dresses of this era typically have bust darts?
Thanks for this post! I bet you’ll do a grand job!
Nancy N
Nancy,
Good eye! Do you think it’s pieced for length (fabric widths being narrower ca. 1810 than today) or do you think it’s a decorative tuck? It could be decorative or it could be there to make the garment long enough. Piecing like that is common enough in the 18th century.
And yes, bust darts are typical in dresses and Spencers in this time period. As the bust takes a more natural (though shelf-like) presentation, bust darts are necessary for making the garment fit, just like in modern clothes.
Kitty
Oh my goodness that’s lovely!