1868 Blue silk bodice
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1868-70 Blue silk bodice; the skirt was made into the 1916 Blue silk dress
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The back of the bodice
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Detail of the front
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A bow from the dress
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Enlarged detail of the silk ottoman
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Description
The silk is in an ottoman weave; the weft has blue silk in the raised cords and a pinkish pale brown in the plain weave sections in between, which gives a pink sheen to the fabric.
The bodice is mounted on ivory glazed cotton and the sleeves are lined with ginger cotton twill.The centre front opening is fastened by ten chestnut coloured silk covered domed buttons with three raised triangles, and buttonholes worked in blue silk thread. The self waistband, 1" wide, has two hooks and worked bars.
The ¾" high stand collar has a hook and worked bar at the front, and the armhole seams and the front edges are piped.
The bodice is trimmed with a self frill, 2¾" deep, cut on the bias with an edge of scallops whose edges are scalloped. This is sewn round the back neck,1" down from the collar and continues down the fronts at an angle, the two ends meeting about 7" down from the neck. The top of the frill is covered by a chestnut coloured braid which has rounded points along one edge. The ends of the sleeves have similar trimming with the 2½" deep frill pointing up the sleeve.
A length of the scalloped edged frill, 2½" wide, has survived with the bodice; it is 85½" long, still slightly gathered, and its ends are pleated into about 1¼". It may have been part of the skirt decoration. A bow has also survived, 4½" wide and made of a 2" width of the silk with the chestnut coloured braid on its edges.
Contemporary illustrations
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Detail from a fashion plate in Le Follet, October 1868
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Detail from a fashion plate in Magasin des Demoiselles, January 1869
