1916 Blue silk dress

1916 Blue silk dress
Date	1915-1918
Category	Women
Item	Dress
Fabric	Silk ottoman
Decoration	Lace, Buttons
Wearer	-
Maker	-
Acc. no.	HC.D-6.80-2 a,b

1915-1918 A dress in shot blue silk.

This dress was made from the skirt that went with the 1868 Blue silk bodice

The back of the dress
Detail of the back of the collar
Detail of the back of the waist
Detail of the end of a sleeve
Magnified detail of the silk on the edge of a frill from the 1868 bodice

Description

The silk is in an ottoman weave with a blue warp; 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 sleeves and bodice are lined with fine white silk and the centre front opening is fastened with seven hooks and eyes, the hook at bust level is a Nicholls dress clip. The inside waistband is 2½" wide petersham with two hooks and eyes to fasten.

The centre front is filled in with a panel of peach coloured silk covered with 24 rows of frills of ⅜" wide stiff net pointing up, with ³⁄₁₆" wide pale pink satin crimped ribbon on the edge; the right-hand edge is sewn on to the lining and the left-hand edge has three press fasteners spaced along to fasten on to the lining.

The side front bodice panels are loose over this; the edges are folded into 2½" wide bands each side, and these are decorated with two domed covered buttons about 4½" down from the yoke and 2½" apart, with pale grey silk embroidery. The rest of the fronts are gathered under the yoke, with the fullness pleated into the waist. The yoke over the shoulders has bands of pleated silk, ½" wide, along its edges, front and back, and the bodice panels are sewn underneath. The back of the bodice has two pleats each side into the waist.

A stand collar, 2¼" high, goes round the back of the neck, with the pink frills on the top edge and running down each side of the fronts. At the centre back a piece of the pink ribbon-edged frill forms an oval, 2⅜" long and 1¼" high, sewn on where the yoke seams rise up and meet.

The top half of the sleeves are quite full and pulled in at the elbow with two pleats into a seam down to the wrists, from where the fabric forms two lobes edged with the pleated silk which goes round the ends of the sleeves.

The skirt is unlined and sewn over the top of the bodice lower edge with three rows of gathers ¾" deep, and the top edge forming a frill ½" deep. The opening is 4" to the left of the centre front with a hook and worked bar at the waist and three press fasteners down the placket; another press fastener is 2" along the waist towards the centre. The top of the skirt in the front is covered by a horizontal panel, 2½" deep, of four pleats of the silk with stepped ends, 10" wide along the top and 11" at the bottom.

There are patch pockets on the skirt front each side, about 4" down from the waist and 8½" deep, with the ½" wide pleated silk along the slanted opening. At the back waist is a small tail of the silk, 4½" long and 4½" wide, mitred into a point; it narrows to 3" at the waist with a loop of the silk above and two of the embroidered buttons at the waist.