Daisy Chain Dress

VC1985001

Daisy Chain Dress

Dress of sheer ivory cotton batiste: boatneck; cap sleeves; dropped waist with skirt gathered and hand sewn to waistline at sides; mid calf length; metal hook and eye closures; inserted lace panels from neckline to hemline at center front and center back; lace panel trim along entire hemline; self bias tape hand sewn to edges of neck and sleeves; vertical lace panels machine stitched; hand embroidered flowers. Worn in 1925 for the Daisy Chain at Vassar Commencement by Kathryn Keeler Sherrill VC '27.

1925

Clothing and dress

depicted in Photograph of Kathryn Keeler Sherrill carrying the Daisy Chain; photograph; unknown photographer; http://vcomeka.com/vccc/items/show/1274

is referenced by Letter from Les Sherrill, Jr.; letter (correspondence); Les Sherrill Jr,; http://vcomeka.com/vccc/items/show/1393

depicted in Fashioning an Education; online exhibition; http://vcomeka.com/vccc/exhibits/show/fashioning/intro

42 inches (dropped waist), 39 inches (center front length)

cotton

lace

metal

Physical Object

United States

1920s

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

© 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.

VC1985001

Arden Kirkland 1/12/2009

cream

white

hand sewing

machine sewing

lace making

embroidering

drop-waist

boat neck

cap sleeve

dropped

mid calf length

42

39

42 inches (dropped waist), 39 inches (center front length)

Kathryn Keeler Sherrill VC '27

Sherrill, Kathryn Keeler

Letter of donor (and photos)Easy Ways , 23 (1928)

1925

1925

American

womenswear

costume

clothing

Graduation

academic costume

adulthood

Vassar Girls and Other Women

This dress represents a moment in Vassar history which indicates the Vassar community's commitment to accept and acknowledge certain changes in the context of a greater tradition. The carrying of the Daisy Chain takes place in honor of, and respect for, the completion of four years of scholarship, and the young women who carry that chain carry the same honor and respect regardless of the time period in which they are doing it, or the styles particular to that period. Unlike Class Day, the Daisy Chain is a tradition that has endured. The wearing of a white dress remains a constant throughout history, representing the serious tone of the ceremony through the apparent purity of the wearers. White dresses continued to be worn for college events for many years. Professor of History Emeritus Benjamin Kohl, in recalling his early years teaching at the college (he began at Vassar in 1966), said: 'I'll never forget the first convocation I marched in . . . there were 1500 young women in white dresses . . . It was like a room full of angels, a kind of paradise.'A 19th century Daisy in full length, long sleeved, high necked gown, stood for the same tradition of respect as this Daisy of 1925 in short skirt, short sleeves, and low neck. For the Vassar of the 1920's, the same ideals take the form of a more exposed body of simple, strong, athletic, lines. The body itself is elaborated upon, rather than the clothing that conceals it.

very good

small hole in lace panel on back right side (near side waist gathers), small hole in the front right side of the nettingSlight wrinkling throughoutFading throughoutYellowing throughoutSmall unknown brown specks throughout - rust?

Exhibited 1991 ; mannequin: size 11 1968; Stored with slip used for exhibitions (was labeled b, but doesn't actually go with the garment - should be put in slip box and labeled as other slips are); Possible homemade.

size 11 1968

D2

Vassar College Costume Collection, Drama Department, 124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604

Gift of Kathryn Keeler Sherrill, VC Class of 1927

10/30/1985

from 'Vassar Girls and Other Women: 1854-1925'exhibition, June 1993:231925 white cotton batiste Daisy Chain dress of Kathryn Keeler Sherrill '271985.1Gift of Kathryn Keeler Sherrill '27, 1985Worn by the donor in 1925 when she was a member of the Daisy Chain, this dress of ivory cotton batiste is trimmed with inserted lace panels and hand embroidered flowers.The relevance of this dress is its representation of a moment in Vassar history which indicates the Vassar community's commitment to accept and acknowledge certain changes in the context of a greater tradition: the carrying of the Daisy Chain takes place in honor of and respect for the completion of four years of scholarship, and the young women who carry that chain carry the same honor and respect regardless of the time period in which they are doing it and the styles particular to that period. Unlike Class Day, the Daisy Chain is a tradition that has endured. The wearing of a white dress remains a constant throughout history, representing the serious tone of the ceremony through the apparent purity of the wearers. A 19th century Daisy in full length, long sleeved, high necked gown, stands for the same tradition of respect as does this Daisy of 1925 in short skirt, short sleeves, and low neck. For the Vassar of the 1920's, the same ideals take the form of a more exposed body of simple, strong, athletic, lines. The body itself is elaborated upon, rather than the clothing that conceals it.

dress

floral patterns