Afternoon dress

Unknown

1876–78 · silk · Costume Institute

The popularity of black in the second half of the nineteenth century was stimulated by the introduction of chemical dyes of that color in the 1860s. While tasteful and timeless, black remained associated with death and the garb of the widow—a woman often imagined as dangerously independent and alluring. Appropriate for third-stage mourning, this black silk faille dress blurs the distinction between mourning and fashion, and its original use remains unknown. Cut with princess seams, the dress forms the tight, smooth fit over the hips that epitomized late 1870s fashions.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1876–78

Medium

silk

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Theodore Fischer Ells, 1975