Walking dress

Unknown

ca. 1832 · silk · Costume Institute

The waistline's descent in the 1830s to some two or more inches below the bust came in tandem with the greatest grandiloquence of the gigot sleeves and billowing bell-shaped skirt. The elegant dilations favored the illusion of the waist as minuscule in the midst of swelling forms. The belted waist became the sole measure in a massing of bulges and balloons.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1832

Medium

silk

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. Richard T. Auchtmuty, 1915