Friday, February 24, 2012

Turn of the Century Day Dress










From the seller:

This auction is for an 1800's Victorian silk bustle back skirt with matching bodice jacket. The silk fabric features a lovely circle pattern in white against a deep indigo blue . Both the jacket & skirt are lined in black polished cotton which has helped to preserve the 1880's silk. The jacket has hook & eye closure of both the lining and silk. Slim sleeves taper out to large lower puffs and are gathered at the wrist with early eyelet cuffs. The matching skirt has hook & eye closure at back waist. There are tons of gathers so there is plenty of room for your wire cage bustle and hoop skirt. The lower skirt lining features a matching blue silk ruffled flounce sewn to the lining. The underside has a jet black velvet dust ruffle that would sweep the floor and protect the silk hemline. This lovely early bustle skirt & jacket has the following flaws: Fading and silk tearing under both underarms. There are some fine silk pin holes in the puff sleeve areas & scattered here and there about the jacket. Age spot lower jacket and mid skirt. When the silk part of the skirt is held to the light you will see tiny silk holes in the skirt. This is not seen when displayed because of the black lining. At one time someone placed a couple of iron on patches on the underside of the silk. This is a beautiful display piece as you can see....just a wonderful piece of early Victorian clothing. It is too fragile to wear. It measures as follows:
Jacket:
Bust: 32 inches
Waist: 26 inches
Underarm to lower hemline: 11 inches
Underarm to sleeve end: 17 inches
Skirt:
Waist: 28 inches
Hips: full bustle
Waist to lower hemline: 43 inches




From Me:

This seller drives me nuts. I love the stuff she posts but she drives me nuts. She believes that everything is from the bustle era. This isn't. The s-curve corset forced the body to jut out in the back, nothing more. This is from the early Edwardian era and there isn't a bustle to it.

3 comments:

  1. This would be perfect to go with my s-bend corset. I haven't decided what to make my dress with yet. My corset does have a little bum pad to create the slight bump in back but it ain't no bustle!
    Val

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you make the dress with fabric. ;-)

      I have a few dresses from the early Edwardian period up. Look through them for further inspiration!

      Delete
  2. Not to mention, if it's s-curve it's hardly "early Victorian"!!

    ReplyDelete