Dress
PeriodCirca 1830
Place MadePossibly Keyport area, New Jersey, U.S.A.
MediumStriped and printed cotton gauze, linen, cotton
Dimensions52 in. (132.1 cm)
ClassificationsCostume, Women's
Credit LineMuseum Collection
Object number1996.530
DescriptionA woman's dress of bright yellow cotton gauze with a woven vertical stripe, constructed with a wide, low boat neck, diagonal fan pleated bodice, slightly high waistline and a self waistband. The skirt is gauge pleated all around and sewn to an inner brown cotton band. The gown's short sleeves are puffed and end with a self fabric cuff band. The dress closes at back, with a single button waistband which includes three hand-sewn large button holes allowing for waistband adjustment, and brass hooks and eyes sewn along the edges. The two lower hooks and eyes appear to be original to the dress. Long, wide tabs of printed red, brown, white, and yellow cotton gauze backed with lightweight linen and edged with red cotton piping are applied vertically to the bodice front. Dagged edge panels of yellow cotton gauze edged with red cotton piping are set along the tops of the puffed sleeves. The lower half of the gown's skirt has an attached overlay of the printed red, brown, white, and yellow floral/paisley fabric used in the bodice tabs. The bodice is lined with thin white linen.NotesOld accession records note that the dress was wrapped in paper marked "plaid dress - Gift of Miss J. Mabel Brown." It cannot be determined whether this gown was donated by Miss Brown, as it is clearly not plaid. However, Josephine Mabel Brown donated a great number of interesting historic clothing and accessories through the years to the Association. Keyport was a bustling community during the 19th century due to its central location as a steamboat building area. A gown of this nature would not have been unusual or out-of-place, as residents had easy and almost immediate access to New York City's consumer goods. An examination of the gown's construction does indicate that the gown was most likely not made by a high-style urban dressmaker. Instead, it may have been constructed by a skilled local dressmaker who was looking to English and French fashion plates for her inspiration. The gown itself is quite distinctive and creative, and reveals a firm grasp of up-to-the-moment fashion details including the tabbed and fan pleated bodice, huge puffed sleeves, and the "dagged edge" shoulder cap panels.
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