Dress

Unknown

ca. 1880 · cotton · Costume Institute

While among the most prized pieces of historical clothing and occasionally seen in vintage clothing sales, the cotton dresses of the 1880s are seldom preserved in fine condition, as they were made of a fine batiste cotton. Further, they must often have become elements of family theatricals ("the grandmother") and enactments early in this century, many becoming altered and abused in the process. This fine day dress with a trained bustle skirt could be a textbook example.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1880

Medium

cotton

Culture

probably American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Trust Gift, 1993