dress, 1-piece

This dress consists of two layers attached at the shoulder. The lower layer consists of a sleeveless pink silk garment with a scalloped picot hem. The top layer consists of a hip-length tunic attached at the hip to a scallop-edged pleated skirt. The bodice overhangs the skirt by 8.5 in. The tunic is made of a machine-made black netted lace with alternating horizontal rows of stripes of solid and repeated rose designs. The lace elements of the tunic are emphasized by hand-stitched pink faux pearls.

The skirt is made from the same lace as the tunic, with the pattern running vertically rather than horizontally. The tunic has a scoop neck edged by a ¾ in deep row of the same pink pearls used throughout the tunic. The lower layer has a deeper scoop neckline than the top layer, which rises to points where the shoulder straps attach. The neckline is finished with a 1.25 in strip of fine silk pink crepe. The shoulder straps are made of two layers of cotton net finished with a picot edge.

There is staining on the lower layer of the garment at the center front natural waist. The lace is in good condition, but it is delicate, and there is pearl loss on the lower hip and pulling in the back at the natural waist.

Currently not on view

From National Museum of American History, released by the Smithsonian under CC0 through its Open Access programme. The Smithsonian does not endorse ModelsXi. Its own page has the object record and other copies, including full-resolution and print-ready files where they exist.