Wednesday, January 31, 2018

1890's Ballgown with lovely embroidery







From the seller:

ANTIQUE DRESS 1881 SATIN 2PC BEADED RECEPTION GOWN TRAIN MUSEUM DE-ACCESSIONED WITH PAIR SHOES PARIS LABEL A. FELIX BREVETE, 15 FAUB PT., HONORE PARIS

This is an attractive FRENCH Reception Dress gown of the 1880's period, that a mid to upper class woman would wear. A regal trained 2-piece in construction ivory satin gown/dress lavishly decorated with gold and crystal beadwork, gold sequins and colored faceted stone jewels paillettes.

Gown comes with it's original beaded pumps. Labelled HELLSTERN & SONS, BREVETES, PARIS.

Recently de-accessioned from the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection in New York City.




Labeled on petersham. Reads A. FELIX, PARIS, see photo for details of label.

The front of bodice is decorated lavishly and skillfully done with beadwork and having floral tambour lace inserts. Bodice has cap sleeves with double oversized ruffles.The bodice has hook and loop front closure fastening with a tight fitting bodice. Bodice comes to a point in front and back.

The bodice is lined with cream silk and has 10 fabric covered whale baleen stays. No underarm discoloration.

The skirt closes by hooks and loops at back and gathers with pleats in the center back with fullness for a nice fall with very long train. The skirt is lined with a tan satin.

BODICE: Bust 28", Waist 24", Sleeve Length 5-1/2". Across shoulder 15", Shoulder to hem 59",

Shoulder to waist with point 20", Shoulder to waist at sides 18"

Front skirt length 42"

Back length 47".

Shoes: Length 9-1/2"

Width 2-1/2"

Height 4".




Condition: The gown is in fair/poor condition. Satin is shredding in skirt and in bodice. No underarm discoloration, but has large underarm tears. I do not see any bead loss, but lets say there is a few lost beads.
Some light surface soiling at hemline. Bodice lining is fair with shredding, skirt lining is poor with shredding.
The skirt is in poor condition with many split tears to material as shown in photos. Shoes are in fair/good condition with satin splitting, and minor bead loss.

I have described this gown as fair/poor, for the collector who looks for perfection, I believe it should be rated fair condition in my opinion.

A truly grand display dress/gown for display. Antique clothing should not be worn.


From Me:

This gown is a good 15 years, if not a bit more, than 1881. The sleeves are too puffy and there isn't the form fitting skirt you'd expect with the natural form in the early 1880's. Rather, this is the later 1890's - probably 1896-1898. Really, it has a lot of remarkable similarity with this gown at the Met other than this extant gown has puffier sleeves. The skirts are the same shape and the embroidery placement is pretty similar.

1896 Fashion Plate

Saturday, January 27, 2018

1890s Creamy Dress - Sleeves of DOOM!










From the seller:

1895-1897 2-PIECE WALKING OUTFIT LEG OF MUTTON SLEEVES

MUSEUM DE-ACCESSIONED


A regal late 1895-1897 light beige challis with satin accents around front neck. This 2 piece gown has been de-accessioned from the Rochester historical museum in New York state. The gown still retains it's original Museum ID catalog tags inside bodice and skirt as well as string tags with donors name, Miss Dorothy Rice.

The bodice is accented with light beige satin on neck line and front of bodice with a side bow. The bodice is lined with cotton and with 10 covered whale bone baleen stays and has inner front hook and eye closure. The inner front closure acts like a corset. Sleeves are curved with a large puff leg of mutton sleeves. Satin collar is rough with shredding. No underarm staining. Attached to bottom edge of bodice is a large bow and long streamers.

The skirt closes by hooks and loops at the back and gathers with cartilage pleats in the back for a nice fall and sweep. The skirt is lined with cotton and buckram. In very good condition. Has a inner side pocket.

The bodice and skirt have hooks to attach and hold up the weight of the skirt.

Condition: The dress is in good condition for its age. BODICE: No underarm staining, and has some small wear holes in puff sleeves. Some very small age spots scattered about. Satin on bodice has shredded at edge of neckline. Water staining on inner lining only.

SKIRT: is in very good condition with no stains. Back seam opening has 4" at seam that needs to be sewn closed.
Some very small age spots scattered about.

MEASUREMENTS:

Bodice Measures:

Bust 33", Waist 25",

Curved Sleeve Length 25", Across back shoulder 8-1/4", Shoulder to bodice hem 18".

Front skirt length 39-1/2",

Back skirt sweep 39-1/2", Waist 24-1/2".

A truly grand display dress/gown or for study or pattern. Antique clothing should not be worn.


From Me:

I love this seller. At least s/he knows what s/he's talking about!  Notice the "corner bows" on the pink dress are in a very similar placement to the extant one.

1896 Fashion Plate

Lovely Cream and Silver Edwardian Blouse













From the seller:

1850s ANTIQUE FASHION VICTORIAN GOLD THREAD & LACE SILK BLOUSE
DESCRIPTION: Offered to you is this 1850s antique fashion Voctorian gold thread and lace silk blouse. This is a very complicated and difficult to make model. There are some defects on the fabric due to its age and the buttons cannot be open. For condition see photos. Scarce and highly collectable item. Size: length 16” ; width at shoulders 15”


From Me:

Clearly, the seller had no clue what they had. I'm pretty sure it's just tarnished silver lace - not gold- however, it's still impressive. It's probably from around 1907 ish given what looks like a higher waistline and the shorter sleeves. (Although the seller says it's 16" in length, I'm not sure where s/he's measuring from as the width is looks like a lot longer than the length.  Maybe they confused those too?)

1907 Fashion Plate