Cream Wedding Dress of Silk Moire and Wool
Dublin Core
Identifier
VC2004032
Title
Cream Wedding Dress of Silk Moire and Wool
Description
Two piece wedding dress of cream wool blend and silk moire with metal supports and closures. Bodice (a) of cream wool blend; boned; high-hip length; pointed waistline; two waist darts on each side in front; princess seams in back; lacing at center front; lining has hook and eye closures; juliet sleeves with puff at top and then straight; square neckline with standing collar supported with wire. Skirt (b) of cream wool blend; floor length; draped box pleats on center left with angled cascade effect; front panel of silk moire. Attached bustle panel (c) of cream wool blend; floor length; hooks across top; pleating at center back.
Date
1890 (circa)
Subject
Clothing and dress
Extent
25 inches (chest), 22 inches (waist), other measurements: 39 inches (skirt center front length); 38 (skirt center back length); 11 inches (bodice center front length); 20 inches (bodice center back length); 23 inches (bodice waist)
Medium
boning
metal
moire
silk
wire
wool
Type
Physical Object
Temporal Coverage
1870s
1880s
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
Is Referenced By
For Better and For Worse
Rights Holder
© Vassar College Costume Collection. Images in this collection may be used for teaching, classroom presentation, and research purposes only. For other reuse, reproduction and publication of these images, contact costumeshop@vassar.edu.
Costume Item Type Metadata
Source Identifier
VC2004032
Color Main
cream
Technique
darts
Structure Silhouette
bustle
Closure Type
hooks and eyes
Closure Placement
center back closure
Collar
portrait collar
Structure Sleeves
Juliet sleeve
Structure Waist
pointed
Structure Skirt
pleated skirt
Structure Hem
floor length
Costume Component
lining
Dimensions Chest
25
Dimensions Waist
22
Dimensions Other
39 inches (skirt center front length); 38 (skirt center back length); 11 inches (bodice center front length); 20 inches (bodice center back length); 23 inches (bodice waist)
Dimensions All
25 inches (chest), 22 inches (waist), other measurements: 39 inches (skirt center front length); 38 (skirt center back length); 11 inches (bodice center front length); 20 inches (bodice center back length); 23 inches (bodice waist)
Donor
Nancy Brandon Allen
Date Earliest
1880
Date Latest
1892
Gender
womenswear
Classification
costume
clothing
Category
Wedding
Function
wedding clothes
Exhibitions
For Better and For Worse, spring 2013
Condition Term
good
Condition
Tears on moire panel. Tears on skirt. Quite a but of discoloration. Thinning of skirt fabric. Moire panel is brittle. Stains on hem and bodice.
Treatment
The original collar of the bodice had been covered in a modern fabric; this covering was removed by Holly Hummel. Underneath this covering, the original collar was shredding. Candace Schuster straightened out the misshapen wires in the collar and the smoothed down the fabric as best as possible. Candace Schuster and Alexandra Figler attached conservation net to the front and back of the collar. Alexandra Figler then attached conservation net to the lapels and to the silk moire panel of the skirt. The bust and hip supports of the padded wooden mannequin were removed, and the mannequin was then re-shaped with light papier-mâché shoulders, re=padded to fit the garment, and covered. The mannequin was dressed with a bustle pad and petticoat as foundation garments to support the skirt. A thin synthetic satin cord was purchased to lace the bodice closed in the center front, as the original lacing has not survived.
Mannequin
Pauline
Storage Location
N8
Repository
Vassar College Costume Collection, Drama Department, 124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604
Credit Line
Gift of Nancy Brandon Allen, VC Class of 1939
Exhibition Notes
This dress was donated by Nancy Brandon Allen, VC Class of 1949. The silk moire has deteriorated, and has been covered with conservation net to prevent further tearing. The inset at the neck, and front lacing, are modern reproductions to provide a better view of what the dress would originally have looked like.
There were several trends that brides subscribed to in the 1870s. Not only did they wear bustles and orange blossoms, a symbol of maidenhood and fertility, they also began to wear white. Though Queen Victoria wasn’t the first bride to wear the color at her wedding, she was the one to popularize it in 1840. As Godey’s Lady Book noted a few years after the wedding, “Custom has decided, from the earliest ages, that white is the most fitting hue, whatever may be the material.†However, there were brides who continued to wear other colors, such as blue or the ivory of this dress, allowing them to reuse the garment.
- by Alexandra Figler ‘16 and Holly Hummel
There were several trends that brides subscribed to in the 1870s. Not only did they wear bustles and orange blossoms, a symbol of maidenhood and fertility, they also began to wear white. Though Queen Victoria wasn’t the first bride to wear the color at her wedding, she was the one to popularize it in 1840. As Godey’s Lady Book noted a few years after the wedding, “Custom has decided, from the earliest ages, that white is the most fitting hue, whatever may be the material.†However, there were brides who continued to wear other colors, such as blue or the ivory of this dress, allowing them to reuse the garment.
- by Alexandra Figler ‘16 and Holly Hummel
Work Type
dress
bodice
skirt
Related Items:
Comments
Student Student
Stored in Box N8
Alexandra Figler