Old Rags

Half-mourning dress by W G Jay & Co, 1883-84 London, Manchester Art Gallery

Half-mourning dress (?) Pale grey satin trimmed with black figured and black corded silk and white net. Two piece.

Bodice lined with cream twilled silk. Low square-cut neck. Fastening at centre front with embroidered buttons. Neck trimmed with band and double frill of net. Sleeves shaped to wrist, trimmed with frill of net. Separate skirt lined with stiffened cotton, fastening left back. Hem cut in triangles. Train at back. Lace muslin frill. Tapes and ties at back to form bustle.

(Source: manchestergalleries.org)

Child’s mourning garment, ca 1882 England, the Victoria & Albert Museum

Little girl’s mourning garment, in the form of a short princess-line coat dress made of black grosgrain lined throughout with white cotton. The garment has a rounded neck with a self fabric neckband, and fastens the length of the front with metal hooks and stitched loops. The hem and wrist-length sleeves are finished with vandyke tabs bound and faced with self fabric. The coat is shaped to fit at the waist: it is cut in six pieces, the front two of which have long darts. Lines of stitch holes indicate that two mitred pieces of fabric which were originally positioned at the waist back have been removed.

(Source: collections.vam.ac.uk)

Photo of Lillie Langtry, ca 1882

Women on a Balcony by Frederic Soulacroix, mid-1880’s, private collection (UK)

(Source: artfact.com)

Bodice by Worth, 1880-85 Paris, Shelburne Museum

Wouldn’t you love to be able to have seen the whole dress?  I wonder if the rest of it is still out there?

Seaside dresses for women and girls, ca 1884 Spain, El Salon de la Moda

Dress by House of Worth (attributed), 1883 Paris, the Met Museum

Dinner dress by Lord & Taylor, 1877-83 NYC, the Met Museum

Evening dress, 1880-83 US, the Met Museum

Dinner dress by Worth, ca 1883 Paris, KCI