Dress

Unknown

1832–35 · silk · Costume Institute

By the 1830s, dresses had grown so voluminous as to require padding and numerous petticoats to support the large sleeves and wide skirts. In this dress, the extraordinary sleeves appear to compete with the skirt in width. The simultaneous inflation of sleeves and skirt created, by contrast to the corseted waist, the illusion of a smaller midriff.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1832–35

Medium

silk

Culture

European

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Lee Simonson, 1938