We are amazed at some of the various extant periods garments that we have accidentally come across over the years. Here’s a reception dress from the early 1890s that we recently discovered on website for the Goldstein Museum of Design:
Reception Dress, c. 1890; Goldstein Museum of Design (2013.004.012)
Three-quarter frontal view, right.
Side Profile
Rear View – For a moment, this appeared to be the front but it’s not, rather it’s almost a mirror image of the front.
Style-wise, this dress has an outer later consisting of a robe-like silk brocade combined with an underlayer consisting of a black silk underskirt and green silk bodice with black lace trim. The collar has a feather-like trim all around combined with black jet beading. The silhouette has a somewhat upright, cylindrical appearance characteristic of 1890s styles and the outer layer with its vertical lines further emphasizes the vertical aspects. While the overall effect suggests the princess line, it’s hard to discern if the underlayer has a waist seem- the lace provides obscures this. Here are some close-up views:
View of upper front bodice.
This frontal view shows off the sleeve caps nicely- we see a somewhat restrained version of the gigot sleeves characteristic of 1890s style. Based on the size, we would be inclined to date this dress from early 1890s, perhaps 1891-1894, before the extreme sleeve sizes of came into play. The front bodice is constructed as a jacket with wide beaded lapels with green (bordering on chartreuse) silk satin. Here’s a close-up of the upper bodice front:
Close-up of bodice.
The back is just as elaborately constructed as the front:
View of upper back.
This view from the upper back reveals that the collar consists of a band of black jet beading combined with black feathers. The center back appears to be a green silk satin covered in net that’s inset between the silk brocade outer fashion fabric.
Side view of collar.
This side profile nicely shows off the tapering collar. Below is a close-up of the silk brocade fashion fabric; the vertical branches combined with the vertical stripes accentuates the dress’s vertical lines and serve to draw the eye upwards. Definitely a text book use of lines in fashion design. 🙂
Close-up of fashion fabric.
Unfortunately, we were unable to learn much from the museum website so there’s some unanswered questions, especially in regard to construction- not a deal-breaker but it would be nice to know. To conclude, this dress is an extraordinary example of early 1890s style, especially with the fabric selection and color and it provides an interesting alternative example of a reception dress with its layering. This dress is an ideal candidate for replicating. 🙂