Dress

James McCreary and Co., N.Y.

1876–78 · silk · Costume Institute

An hourglass silhouette with a princess-seamed structure called the "cuirasse" was created with a high waist, just an inch or two under the bust. It was an upholstered, exaggerated shape achieved with a corset and a spoon busk to cup and re-form the abdomen. American dress reformers, many newly directed former anti-slavery advocates, came together in the 1870s in specific opposition to such deliberate body molding.

Artist

James McCreary and Co., N.Y.

Date

1876–78

Medium

silk

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of the Misses Faith and Delia Leavens, 1941