1880's Child's dress

From the seller:

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ALL THE MANY PICTURES OF THIS WONDERFUL DRESS. This is a fantastic Museum Quality Antique 19thC Victorian Child's Bustle Dress Gown in a Dark Mauve Color Silk with Velvet trim. Mauve color became all the rage when Queen Victoria wore it to her daughter's wedding in 1858, and the highly influential Empress Eugénie decided the color matched her eyes. Soon, the mauve color was all the rage. Also Mauve was the first chemical aniline dye color invented in 1856 by William Perkins.This fabulous child's gown is from an estate of a collector from Long Island and my guess is that the collector purchased this dress in and around the New York area. The dress itself was made for a wealthy child and from the appearance was not worn very much. And the condition is appropriately excellent and beautiful. Fortunately it has been carefully maintained and stored. The photography was done outside in full sun so that all the dress details would show in the pictures. But the color to the eye is much darker and richer in person. Some of the pictures were taken when the sun was behind a cloud and you can see the color of the silk is much darker. In real life the color is darker and richer still. The fabric is a silk taffeta in a very deep mauve color with cranberry velveteen down the front of the bodice, the front of the wrist, and down the side panels of the skirt, with cranberry silk ribbon trim. There is a narrow 1/2" collar band, princess seaming in the back, rows of pleated ruffles to the front of the dress and around the hem, a small area of seam pull and repair with some fabric wear to the top front of the right sleeve right where the sleeve joins the bodice, curved sleeves, plenty of fullness of fabric and gathers in the back for quite a large full bustle, a 2 3/4" vertical slit/tear to the lower back of the left sleeve with some fabric wear there as well almost a tear 1 1/2' below it to the silk only (the sleeve lining can be seen), some minor wear here and there to the fabric that you have to look for to find, there are four layers of pleated flounce to the front skirt, and the bustle trim in back is thick with many folds and straight pins pinned at the top of the bustle tips with the rest stitched to the garment. The bustle trim is supposed to poof out more, but has flattened over time from storage. The front of the dress is fully lined in a brown polished cotton while the back of the dress is lined in a deep semi sweet chocolate color brown polished cotton. The lining to the font of the dress opening has hand stitched buttonholes but all of the matching buttons are missing. None of the seam edges have been bound or finished. There are no rips, tears or holes to any part of polished cotton lining. There are minor restitching spots on the dress that look like reinforcement stitching and not dress altering. This dress is so beautiful.Please ask questions if I have not included something in the description that is important for you to know. I am not sure which decade of the 19th century this dress is from. Perhaps you could tell me. The measurements include:

Bust approximately 23"

Waist 24" about the same as the bust

Across from shoulder to shoulder in front 12 1/2"

Top of curved Sleeve to wrist 16"

Wrist opening 6"

Trim panel in the front 3" wide

Top of shoulder to hem 29"

Top of center back to hem 28 1/2"

Trim panel on skirt front and wrist sleeve 2 1/4"


From Me:

...Why couldn't I have been a child in the 1880's?