With the Fourth of July rapidly approaching, we thought that we’d share the following pictures:

Reception Dress, c. 1880 – 1882; Manchester Art Gallery

Left Three Quarter Rear View

Right Three Quarter Close-Up Rear View

Close-Up Of The Back

It’s too bad that we don’t know more about the provenance of this dress but there is little doubt that it was a patriotically-themed dress most likely meant for the Fourth of July. 🙂 That said, in terms of style it appears to be a day dress circa early 1880s- perhaps 1882 or 1883- because of the lack of a train. What is interesting is that the bodice and overskirt are a sea foam or celadon color with a red-striped under skirt. Both overskirt and bodice are decorated with black stars and trimmed in ivory lace and red-striped ribbon. Finally, the neckline is trimmed with small American flags.

This is a nice, spirited dress with relatively clean lines and simple decoration and trim with an interesting color combination and is definitely a strong candidate for recreating. 🙂