1795 Black & polychrome striped silk satin dress
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1792-1797 A dress in black silk satin with polychrome floral stripes.
The dress has been mounted by The School of Historical Dress with a reconstructed silk taffeta petticoat and a white muslin kerchief. The lower right front strap with buttonholes was missing and has been reconstructed.
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A side view of the dress showing the pleated trimming.
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The back of the dress
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Detail of the front
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The stomacher laced up under the front tabs
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Inside the back waist, showing the different colour distribution on the reverse of the fabric in different skirt panels; two small pieces of baleen can be seen sewn horizontally across the seams of the bodice.
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Detail of the trimming on the front edge of the skirt
Description
The fabric is silk satin with warp stripes of black between stripes of white shaded through pink to wine. The black stripes have a pattern made by weft threads, of daisy flowers and spots, alternating in colour horizontally between pink and white, and green and yellow. During weaving the green silk yarn seems to have run low because the colours mostly alternate evenly on the reverse but on some panels the pink becomes dominant with very little green appearing.
The bodice and sleeves are lined with white silk; the three back bodice seams are boned and there are two horizontal strips of baleen across them at the waist.
The bodice is fastened at the top of the front with three covered buttons and worked buttonholes; it is then cut away in curves down to the sides. The space in the front is crossed by two sets of tabs, about 2½" wide, each fastened with two buttons and worked buttonholes, arranged asymmetrically down the front. The bottom tab on the right-hand side is a reconstruction. The stomacher under this is made of silk crepe over the white silk lining; the centre opening has baleen strips in channels down the edges next to worked eyelets for lacing. The lace here is reconstructed.
The sleeves are open at the ends, with two worked buttonholes for buttons, which are now missing; fragments of black lace remain sewn round the ends.
The skirt has trimming down the right front edge, which is missing on the left. This consists of two layers of the satin with pinked scalloped edges, about 2½" and 3" wide, box-pleated separately and then sewn together down the centre before being attached to the skirt.
A pattern of this dress can be found in Patterns of Fashion 6 published by The School of Historical Dress and available from their website.
Contemporary illustration
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'Robe a l'anglaise' Journal der Luxus und der Moden, May 1792. Nordiska Museet, Stockholm.
