1897 Girl's silk dress
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1896-1899 A dress in yellow patterned silk
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The back of the dress
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Detail of one of the shoulders
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Detail of the silk fabric
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The label on the waistband inside the dress
Description
The silk is in a twill weave with the pattern woven in yellow on a cream ground
The dress is lined with fawn cotton, and the opening is at the centre back.
The top of the bodice is gathered with five lines of stitching over 2" into a 1" wide frill round the neck; a channel goes round inside the base of the frill, for a ½" wide ivory silk ribbon drawstring which ties at the centre back.
The back of the bodice has nine hooks and worked bars, and the skirt is open for 9" below the waist; a 4½" long tear at the end has been carefully mended.
The lower end of the bodice is gathered at the high waist with a large puff at the front; an ivory silk satin sash, about 2" wide with four tucks, sits over the waist seam. At the centre back each end is gathered over a bone and ends in a 1" frill; there are two hooks and eyes underneath the bones, so the frills are pulled together and stick out; the satin next to the gathers is torn on the right. On the left side at the front there is a bow with a 20½" long hanging piece, folded in pleats with a sloping end which shows as zig-zags.
At the shoulders over the top of the sleeves there are ivory satin stiffened epaulettes, 3½" wide, covered with cream chemical lace which has a vandyke edge. The sleeves are puffed over a straight lining, with three rows of gathering ½" apart, round the lower edge from where the silk is folded up inside to form a soft edged frill, 2½" at its widest.
On the inside of the bodice there is an ivory silk ribbon round the lower edge, ⅝" wide, as a waistband. The label is sewn there at the centre front; it says: Liberty & Co Ltd London & Paris
Contemporary illustrations
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Fashion drawing in The Queen, September 1892
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Fashion drawing in The Young Ladies' Journal, July 1894
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Fashion drawing in The Young Ladies' Journal, December 1894
History
The fabric design was registered on 28th February 1896 by Liberty and the image here is a page from a sample book dated mid-1890s in the Liberty Archive.
Liberty Retail Ltd.