1874 Camisole
1874 White cotton camisole
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The back of the camisole
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Detail of the front opening
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Detail of the trimming
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The name inside the right front
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The name inside the left front
Description
The camisole is mostly machine sewn.
It opens at the front and there are four linen buttons and worked buttonholes down the edges to close them.
A cutwork embroidered band, ⅞" wide, goes round the neck edge, with an edging, ⅞" wide and similarly embroidered, sewn along the top.
On right front end of the band there is a pearl button and another one 1¼" further along; a worked loop is under the left end, ⅜" in from the edge, and another one is ¾" further in.
The sleeve heads are gathered into piped armhole seams, and the lower edges have the same embroidered band and edging as the neck, with a 4" section of the sleeves gathered into it.
Inside lower edge of the right front is a name written in ink; the writing is not clear but there is also the date 1874.
Inside the lower edge of the left front a piece of cotton tape is sewn with the name M.R.Smith and the date 1885 written in ink.
Contemporary illustrations
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Fashion drawing in La Mode Illustrée, September 1874
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Fashion drawing in Journal des Demoiselles,August 1876
History
This camisole has two names with different dates, which implies that the first wearer passed it on to the second one. She could have been the maid of the first wearer, or some female relative. Clothing was often passed on, usually to someone lower down the social scal