Tuesday, April 24, 2012

1860's Mint Green Bodice








From the seller:

For restoration or parts...
Hard to find mint green silk
Antique 1860's Civil War era corset jacket ~!

Harder to find colorful 1860's Civil War era corset dress jacket. This once stunning early piece of antique clothing is a soft mint green silk. Typical 1860's style. The jacket buttons up the front with silk crocheted buttons. Each sleeve cuff is trimmed in silk cording with jet glass beading and dropped silk covered wooden baubles. The jacket is fully lined is brown polished cotton. There are a total of 4 early corset stays sewn within the bodice. This is a wonderful display piece or can be used for parts. The following flaws are noted:
Missing two buttons, two of the wooden baubles have lost their silk covering. No missing jet beading. The green silk not only suffers from many worn areas and fine holes, but both underarms suffer from staining. Perhaps pieces of the silk and matching silk trim can be used to create antique doll clothing. This early piece measures as follows:
Bust: 34 inches
Waist: 24 inches
Underarm to sleeve end: 14 inches
Underarm to waist: 7 inches
Well worth my starting bid!


From Me:
Oh My.

Where to begin?

A) What the heck is a "corset jacket"? *looks at bodice* Nope, no corset there. I see a nice cotton lining where she says "inner corset". She also seems to think that whaleboning (most likely) is a corset each on to itself! Really, how hard to comprehend is it that a corset is a separate garment that was used to give shape to the body beneath the clothing? This is very much NOT a corset.

B) "Used for parts"? Uh. No. This antique is almost museum worthy. I'm sure there are some poorer museums that would LOVE the bodice for their collection. You don't take apart old things just because they are old. Why on earth would you take something like this apart for doll clothing?!? Should I take apart an antique lamp from the 1880's -the first electric lamps were invented in the late 1870's- just because I think the copper wiring would be cool for jewelry? Of course not!

Of course, this beauty is from the 1860's and might have seen the tale end of the American Civil War.

3 comments:

  1. I recently went Corset UK crazy and purchased 5 brand new Corsets, so it is "Out With The Old And In With The New". These corsets are high end high quality, I consider myself very well versed in Fashion
    Corsets
    .

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    Replies
    1. I consider you SPAM! Silly spambot, blogs are for people!

      Delete
  2. That trim is beautiful. I can't believe it wasn't used elsewhere on the gown. Would have loved to see if it was used on the skirt too.
    And please, someone save it for history.
    Val

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