Wedding dress

Unknown

1845–50 · silk · Costume Institute

A good example of how wedding dresses continued to be worn after the wedding ceremonies, this dress has two bodices. The one currently attached to the skirt has a more daring neckline for ball wear. The more modest bodice that fits underneath would have been worn for the actual wedding and other times when modesty was appropriate. The design of the pattern of the fabric was carefully matched on both bodices to create a symmetric overall pattern on both the front and the back. Matching requires extra fabric and thought, the sign of skilled and caring hands.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1845–50

Medium

silk

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of the Jason and Peggy Westerfield Collection, 1969