Mid Edwardian Shirtwaist and Petticoat

From the seller:

1800's to early 1900's summer eyelet gauzy lightweight 2 piece outfit.
This is true vintage.

Machine stitched except for buttonholes and eyelet lace. Mother of pearl buttons

I did not rinse this out- Shirtwaist blouse is too fragile. Lots of damage around the neck- please see photos. Blouse is really discolored to brownish. Really not wearable, but maybe some of the lace could be re-purposed onto something to wear with the matching skirt. Interesting construction with the little cut-out gores at the back. Not sure why those were needed, but interesting. Blouse front has the same wildflower/wheat eyelet pattern as the skirt. Lots of tiny tucks in the back.
3/4 sleeves- modified leg-o-mutton. Eyes in the back to attach to skirt, but skirt has no hooks.

The skirt was hand sewn onto the waistband with cartridge pleating. Button is missing. Handmade buttonhole. Some smallish stains on skirt. Skirt is somewhat yellowed, but nothing like the blouse.

Skirt waist measures just under 24".
Waist to hem is 41.5"
Around the bottom is 121". Lots of usable fabric if you choose to take it apart. It would make a stunning christening gown.


From Me:

Putting this in a 100+ year range tells us...nothing. Also, that is not a leg-o-mutton sleeve (does it look like lamb's leg to anyone?). Rather, what we are seeing is the typical mid Edwardian 3/4 sleeve. Also, I swear the front of the bodice is just left over petticoat trim....

You may *just* notice the ties at the side of the shirtwaist (it's easier to see the remnant of one on the left of the photo near the waistline). In this book from 1911 the ties are mentioned as helping to gather up the fabric once the shirtwaist was laundered. It's harder to wash by hand something that is all tucked up/pleated up/gathered up. Although this shirtwaist does have some gathers at the waistline, I suspect the ties were there to help make it even more so when the the blouse was worn.

Oh, and the blouse would have been tucked in.  The eyes on the back are to hook to the skirt so the shirtwaist doesn't ride up when you are trying to climb over rocks and small trees to get your picture taken in a decent amount of light....   Like I did a few weeks ago...and yeah, I need to add some hooks and eyes to my shirtwaist apparently.  ;-)