Images(2)

Dress

Date1815-1820

MediumSilks

DimensionsOL from shoulder to hem 53 1/8 in.; Bust 32 ½ in.; Waist 29 ¼ in.

Credit LineGift of The Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA

Object number2023-149

DescriptionStriped white silk gauze dress with a raised waistline and short, cap sleeves. The fabric has an alternating woven stripe with a sheaf motif. The dress has a wide neckline. The dress is lined with glazed cotton under the arm. The dress fastens down the center back with two sets of hooks and eyes and ties at the waist. The dress is straight in the front and gathers at the center back waist. The sleeves have silk ‘petals’ sewn on, exposing undersleeve puffs. The petals are trimmed with piping and decorative trim. Triangular panels of silk satin are sewn at the hem with pleated bands dividing them. There is piping on the center back seams.Label TextThe 1810s saw the inflation of the sleeve in women's wear- eventually expanding to the leg of mutton sleeves of the 1830s. This dress, constructed between 1815 and 1820, shows one stage of this style. The distinctive gathered cap sleeves feature silk satin petals, with exposed puffs of striped silk gauze underneath.ProvenancePrior to 1962, Miss Mary Greenhow Parsons (Petersburg, VA); 1962 given to the Valentine Museum (Richmond, VA); 2023-present given to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)