1913 Shaded chiffon evening dress

1913 Shaded chiffon evening dress
Date	1911-1914
Category	Women
Item	Dress
Fabric	Silk chiffon, Satin
Decoration	Beading
Wearer	-
Maker	Madame Ivanovna
Acc. no.	HC.D-5.80-4

1911-1914 A dress in shaded silk chiffon.

A side view of the dress
The back of the dress
Detail of the bodice of the under-dress, showing part of the separate chiffon panel at the front, and the top of the centre back unused opening.
The label which is sewn upside down on the centre back of the inside waistband.

Description

There are two layers of the silk chiffon; the top layer is a greyish white which as been dyed a dark blue along each selvedge shading away to pale sections and then shading to black in the centre. The is laid over a plain pink layer which shows on the inside of the sleeves.

The under-dress is plain cream silk satin and is lined with ivory cotton. The bodice has an opening down the centre back with five hooks and worked bars, which were presumably not used as the chiffon layers have no back opening; there is a sewn-up placket at the top centre back of the skirt. Seven hooks and eyes go down the centre front bodice opening, and on the inside neck edge there is a channel for a ½" wide ivory plaited silk braid as a drawstring to tie at the front and also at the centre back. The inside waistband is ivory petersham, 2" wide, with three hooks and eyes at the centre front, and the satin is gathered onto its lower edge.

A separate small panel covers the centre front bodice opening; it is 6½" wide and 7½" deep, made of cream silk chiffon gathered over the pink, and has pearls sewn along the top edge; the top right-hand corner is stitched to the neck edge and a hook on the left hand top corner attaches to a bar on the satin with another hook at the base for an eye on the satin. The panel is pulled in to a 1¼" width 1½" up from the waist, where the right half is sewn to the satin.

The under-dress has short sleeves in a double layer of the pink chiffon, which are visible through the shaded chiffon, and the sleeve heads are pleated into the armholes.

The shaded chiffon bodice is not sewn to the under-dress and each side is cut as one piece with no shoulder seams, a seam at the centre back and extended sleeves; the side seams extend down the hanging sleeves. A tuck, 1" wide, is stitched down for 6½" over each shoulder. The inside edges have pearls sewn on all round, 1½" apart, and the fronts overlap by 1½" at the front waist. The chiffon is gathered into the self waistband, ½" wide.

A cluster of tiny pink flowers on stems is sewn just above the waist, 2" to the left of centre front; this is not in good condition.

The inner side of the sleeves hangs down into points and has four loops of pearls on the end, the longest being 5" long; pearls are sewn 1¼" apart along the edges.

The skirt of the satin under-dress is gathered into the waistband with the right side overlapping the left for 3½" at the centre front; it is open for 12", then joined to the left side of the skirt for 20" before opening with curved hems each side, going round to a pointed train at the back, which has a lead weight in a little pocket at its point.

The chiffon is also gathered into the waistband, and extends 10½", on a ¼" wide band, round the waist from where the bodice overlaps, to the centre back, where there is a 12" deep opening with six hooks and eyes. There is a hook 2" from the start of the extension, another at the end, with corresponding bars, and three press fasteners spaced between.

The belt is made of a 6½" wide piece of chiffon, loosely draped and attached to the back bodice in two places; each end is gathered in to 1½" with a frill, 1¼" wide, on the right-hand end over three hooks for bars on the other end.

There are pearls sewn round the hem at 1½" intervals. On the right side,17" below the waist, the skirt is caught up with three loops of pearls, two are 2" long and the third is 3".

The dress was made by Madame Ivanovna, Westminster Palace Gardens, S.W. and her label is sewn, upside down, at the centre back of the inside waistband.