DressDiscover Union

Smith College

Smith College Historic Clothing Collection (Northampton, Massachusetts, United States)

Day dresses of the twenties preserve a neat, business-like simplicity in its tubular, extremely slender shape, as described by C.W. Cunnington.  Female breasts and waists are obliterated in a boyish shape.  But in the later half of the decade, there are suggestions of a softening, especially in the skirt that begins to flare loosely, freed from straight, precise pleats. This sports dress shows just such a flare in the skirt that is made of 3 panels.  Two of the panels are semi-circular; they join at the center front on the straight grain, and finish at the side back, stitched to the side back panel that is all on the straight grain.  This construction places a bias curve on the sides that leaves plenty of room for any sports activities.   Madelyn Shaw, Guest Curator of the exhibit, Silk in New England Society, 1730-1930, here at the Smith College Museum of Art, wrote further about the material: By 1920, the American silk industry was the largest in the world, consuming more raw silk from Japan and China than all of Europe put together.  Constrained by the shortages of wool and cotton during World War I, American silk manufacturers developed new silk and silk-mixed fabrics to encourage American women to wear silk around the clock and across the seasons.  Sports silks, like sportswear, were truly American inventions and were exported to markets in Europe and South America.



two-piece tan silk tweed  sports dress trimmed with silk ribbon

Permission for educational use only granted by Costume Department, Theatre Department, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts USA

Two-piece sports dress

This dress is an example of a Victorian half-mourning evening gown.  Victorian society took its mourning very seriously.  Rules of bereavement reached every aspect of Victorian life, the strictest being in the matters of fashion.  There are two stages, deep or full mourning and half-mourning.  Women's deep mourning garments were made of black crepe, a lusterless fabric and her social engagements were strongly restricted.  A widow progressed to half-mourning after a year which allowed for a black silk dress and jewelry made of pearls, amethysts, black cut glass and jet.  After a year of half-mourning widows could wear colors freely but many followed Queen Victoria's lead and wore black for the rest of their lives.

Mourning dress

The tight-fitting, boned, long-waisted bodice so popular at this time was called a cuirass bodice, named for the rigid metal breastplate and backplate of men's armor.  Even with this modest bustle, this day ensemble would look lean and long compared to the styles popular for the last 30 years.  Nearly all the stitching is by machine, even the binding around the 12 buttonholes.  There was probably a white lace collar and cuffs.  There are little holes at the base of the neck suggesting that she wore a brooch to close the bodice.  The silk is made from a black warp and white weft, making this shimmering silver.

Two piece day dress silver/grey

This dress was for afternoon events or ceremonies, possibly worn for a graduation, over a slip.  The ruffles and self sash give it a soft look, but it is made of stiff silk organdy.  The sleeves are cut in one with the bodice (kimono sleeve).  The bodice has little shaping.

Afternoon dress

Dress/ Mother Hubbard 

Blue cotton print with white sprays

Faded

Two layers of mother of pearl buttons, one on inner bodice

Inside bodice: 10 buttonholes, missing 2 buttons, flat style Outside: Missing one of round buttons

Smith College Historic Clothing Collection

Day Dress

Black lace shawl, base of small black net, border comprised of flower heads creating scalloped edge, lightly sprigged ground, large stylized floral motifs with intertwining floral branches, corner motifs contain small strap-work.

Long black rectangular lace shawl with floral motif

In the first decade of the 20th century, we find the last vestiges of the perfect lady in an era when every layer looks like a form of negligee using soft, delicate fabrics and colors, curving shapes, and excessive amounts of trims and lace.  These ornate coats probably matched the ornate evening gowns worn under them. However soft and delicate they look, they are carefully tailored and firmly shaped to maintain the illusion of casual drapery.

Evening coats

In the Teens, fashion designers challenged most of the western ideals of women's dress.  They abandoned the corset, raised the hems for day wear, loosened and dropped the waist, draped the body in straight panels or other geometric shapes, and adapted varieties of men's tailoring.  This particular coat fits almost all these shocking new principles of chic style.  It is similar to the styles of two renowned French designers of this period, Jeanne Lanvin and Romain de Tirtoff, more commonly known as ErtÃ©.  They exploited geometric shapes, bold colors and contrasting fabrics in the early decades of the 20th century. Lanvin's signature dress was the robe de style with full side panels, like 18th century dresses only draped low off the hips, just like the gatherings on this coat.  The extremely high collar and long cuffs look like details on coats designed by ErtÃ© for Harper's Bazaar.

Black and white silk coat

The bold style of the Twenties shifts into a more feminine, sleek shape in the early Thirties.  While the daywear was quite modest and conservative, the evening dresses clung to the curves of the body "like a wet cloth."  The cut took advantage of the natural stretch of fabrics when hung or draped on the cross or bias.  This evening dress has a deep low back in contrast to the relatively demure front, not unlike evening dresses in the Twenties.  The novelty of this dress is the shape around the hips flaring out into wide soft fullness.  The wide skirt is set into the upper dress in large bias points, zigzagging around the thighs.  It falls to the floor, but at least 6 inches of sheer blue chiffon at the hem suggests a tentativeness following a decade of short skirts.  The fabric is blue silk chiffon with white velvet in leaf patterns and squiggles.

Evening dress blue !

Black evening, t-strap pumps with narrow heel and rhinestone buckle. Cutout detailing on toe box. Black satin and black grosgrain.

Women's Black T-Strap Shoes

Apron mid-length blue and green silk apron with fringe.

Blue and Green Silk Apron

This day dress is elegant in its simplicity.  The full sleeves are cut on the bias in one piece and set under epaulettes or caps.  The straight/horizontal waist and round neck are finished with self-fabric piping.  The skirt is made of 8 panels, each 19" wide, all gathered in tight guaging, an accordian pleating that compresses these 128" of fabric into a waist circumference of 25 1/2".Compared to the wide arc of the sleeves and with wide base of the skirt, the waist looks especially small.  Likely the skirt appreared to float over a large cage crinoline which felt liberating to women who had struggled with layers of bulky petticoats before these watch-spring steel hoops were an option.  There is a pocket set into the right waist seam.  The dress is lined with caramel colored polished cotton.  Narrow brown woolen braid binds the hem, protecting the silk from dirt and wear.

Striped brown silk day dress

Large chrysanthemums on border and scalloped edge.

Long rectangular black lace shawl with floral motif

The shape of this dinner/evening dress of black silk satin and lace puts it on the cusp of a change in dress styles.  It retains the conventional curves of the past 8 years: a full, matronly bosom drooping over the tight "wasp" waist and spreading over ample hips into a wide train.  The soft drapery is deceptive; there is a boned foundation that would hold the dress firmly in place.  The new style emerging dispenses with curves in favor of straight vertical lines with a high waist and narrow hips.  This was a shape for a youthful figure.  This waist line of this dress sits above the true waist, especially at the back. The skirt hangs straighter and loose over the hips.  The elbow length sleeves were now popular for dinner gowns.

Black silk and lace dinner or evening dress

This is a three part ensemble, made up of a sun yellow skirt that is made nearly invisible under a long sleeveless tunic and topped with a matching orange scarf with two sun yellow stripes on either end, matching the skirt. The ensemble is made of a coarsely woven wool. The sleeveless tunic has slits starting from below the hip on both the right and left side as well as the center of the front and the back, which would have revealed the skirt below when walking. There are two besom pockets, 3.25” wide, just above the breasts on both the right and left hand side, which are tilted slighted upwards towards the armpit. The tunic is brought together down the front with a beige metal Aero zipper and two metal hook and eye at the top. The tunic has an 1.5” wide flap running down the front to cover the zipper. This is mirrored on the front of the skirt, where the 1.5” wide seam remains merely as decoration. The lining of both the tunic and skirt are a light, almost salmon orange silk taffeta.



The skirt is made of four panels, the front having two 4” darts running down the middle of each panel, and the back having two 6” darts. There is a sun yellow 8” Opti plastic zipper that runs down the left hand size of the skirt. Three metal hook and eyes are used to smooth out the opening. 



Suit

Tunic, skirt and stole

Coarse woven heathered wool, orange and gold

Tunic probably even with bottom of skirt



Tunic

Orange

Sleeveless, wide round neckline

Made in four panels, open at sides, back and front

CF closure with 28 1/2" metal zipper

Shaped with diagonal dart from side seams

Welted pockets on each breast

Wide welted seam at CB

Lined with orange rayon



Skirt

Orange wool

Slightly flared, fitted with 2 darts in front and back to waistband

CF with wide flat felled seam

Left closure with zipper, replaced?

Three hooks and eyes

Orange rayon lining



Stole

Long rectangle of orange with two yellow stripes at each end

Woman's suit

This is a three part ensemble, made up of a sun yellow skirt that is made nearly invisible under a long sleeveless tunic and topped with a matching orange scarf with two sun yellow stripes on either end, matching the skirt. The ensemble is made of a coarsely woven wool. The sleeveless tunic has slits starting from below the hip on both the right and left side as well as the center of the front and the back, which would have revealed the skirt below when walking. There are two besom pockets, 3.25” wide, just above the breasts on both the right and left hand side, which are tilted slighted upwards towards the armpit. The tunic is brought together down the front with a beige metal Aero zipper and two metal hook and eye at the top. The tunic has an 1.5” wide flap running down the front to cover the zipper. This is mirrored on the front of the skirt, where the 1.5” wide seam remains merely as decoration. The lining of both the tunic and skirt are a light, almost salmon orange silk taffeta.



The skirt is made of four panels, the front having two 4” darts running down the middle of each panel, and the back having two 6” darts. There is a sun yellow 8” Opti plastic zipper that runs down the left hand size of the skirt. Three metal hook and eyes are used to smooth out the opening. 



Skirt

Gold wool

Slightly flared, fitted with 2 darts in front and back to waistband

CF with wide flat felled seam

Left closure with zipper, replaced?

Three hooks and eyes

Orange rayon lining

Suit

Jacket and skirt

Purple coarse wool with nubbly texture

Jacket

Below hip length

Round neckline

CF closure with 8 tan leather covered buttons and hook and eye at neck

Buttonholes welted with same leather

Straight fit with dart from side seams to bus

No fitting on back

Welted pocket on each breast

Two piece straight sleeves with 2 button vent 

Lined with black silk



Skirt

SLight flare

Inverted box pleat 10"  at CF

Two darts on front and back into waistband

Left side closure with metal zipper, three hooks and eyes

Lined with black silk



Worn with leather bodice, same as button hole leather

Day suit, jacket, belt, skirt

"Going away suit"

Greenish gray heathered plaid wool

Green wool cuffs and collar

Silk embroidery on collar and cuffs

Jacket is short

Double buttons, graduated in size, covered in embroidered green wool

Cream silk satin lining

Skirt narrow at waist and hips, then flares

Unlined

Belt of self fabric

Woman's Suit, worn after wedding for "going away" for a honeymoon

Orientalism has been a trend in Western decorative arts and fashion for centuries.  Western civilization has been entranced by the "exotic" Eastern cultures.  Designers borrowed patterns, techniques and materials associated with the east, which included North Africa to India and the Far East.  These capes are beautiful examples of evening capes worn by American ladies, tailored and cut with grand collars in the grand style of 1900.  They may have the fabric and trims from the "East", but their pieced, curved shapes give them away. The vest is similar to the styles found in North Africa.  This one was probably worn with a blouse and a huge crinoline skirt- quite out of context- but it could also have been made and worn in the early 1900's.  Elaborate patterns made of couched metallic threads and fringed borders were typical decorative devices on the untailored wraps from all these areas. Couching is a technique in which the decorative threads float on the surface, tacked down with other finer threads.  These metallic threads are made of narrow strips of hammered gold or silver wrapped around a core of several silk threads.  Light or natural colored wools have always been significant materials in many of these cultures, their dense, flat surface a perfect foil to the glitter of the metallic designs.

Wool vest with gold couching

Dresses in the thirties emphasized elaborate cut, flounces or ornamental buttons instead of the beadwork, fringe and embroidery popular for the past two decades.  This form fitting dinner ensemble combines see-through lace in a sensual pale flesh color with a demure high neck.  The frills of tulle at the cuff, collar and the jacket hem contrast with the sleek blue velvet belt and bow tie.

Two piece dinner dress pale pink

This dress is a straight tube of black silk chiffon embellished with white bugle beads, clear round beads and silver beads.  The beading was likely done before the pieces were sewn together.  The motifs are Chinese, mimicking the flowers, clouds and mountain shapes found on Chinese robes.  It would be worn over a black slip.

Evening dress with beading

Evening purse

Apron,  gold and green shot silk with ruffle hem, green tasseled cord ties.

Green Silk Apron

White satin wedding slippers (pumps) with an open toe. Satin strap with rusted buckle. Satin twist detail on toe box. UNISHANK imprinted on sole.

Women's Wedding Slippers

Pink and cream wool, repeating floral motif in center ground.

Pink and Cream Shawl

Square shawl of cream colored wool, probably cashmere, woven with a silk cream stripe. Printed with a 5 1/2 inch wide border of bright red and pink roses, leaves, and small flowers. Center is filled with small repeat motif of bright red, blue, and gold flower bouquet. Pale lavender and ochre background. Edges are all turned back. Believed to be machine stitched. The 4 1/2 inch deep fringe added later.

Wool and silk shawl with printed floral border

These two coats illustrate a range of influences and international styles that can be seen in the art, architecture and furnishings of this decade.  The blue coat has a pattern reminiscent of the Weiner Werkstatte school of design: simple, large floral motifs like an abstract Japanese crest. It is a simple T-shape like a kimono, buttoned low on the hips.  This would match the straight tubular dress worn underneath for much of the decade. The bold black and orange pattern is a fine example of the Art Deco style that drew on an eclectic range of geometric patterns from the ancient Egyptians inspired by the discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922 and the craze for Mexican and Aztec art.  It buttons a bit higher on the waist, has more drape on the sleeve and flared gores in the skirt, fitting the more curved shaping popular by the early 30's. Both patterns incorporate pools of reflective threads surrounded by matte areas, another popular motif of the Deco style.

Metallic brocade evening coat

Smith College Relief Unit uniform

Jacket, belt and skirt of heathered gray wool

Jacket

Unfitted flared cut with broad collar

CF closure with 5 black plastic buttons

Two patch pocket on chest with decorative flap and button

Patch pockets with functional flaps and buttons

On right patch pocket a pin with initials WWRC around enameled red cross

Upper left sleeve with black wool band emblazened with embroidered diamond

"USA Smith College Relief Unit"

Lined with dark green and black silk and cotton

Sleeves with lining of cotton with stripe olive and pink

Belt with button and snap closure

Sleeves have decorative flap and button

Skirt

A line with CF buttoned opening, 9 black buttons plus snap at bottom of waist band

Pleat down CB

One large patch pocket over right hip

Waistband 2" wide

Smith College Relief Unit Suit

Wrapper dress

White printed cotton with vertical purple stripe of small white flowers flanked by small purple flowers

Wool tape at hem

Two patch pockets

Self fabric bias ruffles down button placket, cuffs, and on outside sleeve seam

Lined with white plain cotton

Some original repairs

White china/porcelain shoe buttons (original?), below waist, real buttonholes for every other button; 3 missing

Machine stitched

Piping at neck and armsye

Princess seaming

Wrapper Dress

Shawl, cream, light yellow, mohair with open work, knit.

Mohair Shawl

Art movements abounded in the 1920's, including Cubism, Art Deco and Bauhaus.  Elements of these art styles trickle down to fashion styles.  This elegant dress of ribbed silk faille is a testament to the Bauhaus movement's principles.  The sleek horizontal pleats mimic the lines of the school's buildings in Dessau.  The Bauhaus school celebrated the intersection of the arts and technology, of craft with machine.  The crisp box pleats of the skirt meet the horizontal bands as efficiently as gears on a machine.  Note that the horizontal pleats seem to be another color, lighter than the rest of the dress.  Simply by turning the fabric so that the warp threads are horizontal, the light reflects brighter.  The placement of the two bows highlights the asymmetry of the pleating pattern and the neckline.

Day dress

This dress is made for movement and dancing.  The three layers of silk chiffon are cut in a "handkerchief" hem- many points hanging down from a substantial width of beading.  Above this floating base, the bodice hangs smooth and straight.  The beading is made of silver bugle beads and rhinestones.

Evening dress with tiered chiffon skirt

The dress on the left has a waist rising from the hip level popular in the mid-20's.  The flaring side skirts, which float on the bias and make the hem uneven, are a new feature of the 30's.  Even the vibrant, garish pattern of bright pink roses and carnations, blue ferns, red berries and small yellow blossoms, is a new look after a decade of geometric beading and muted colors.  The dress on the right also bridges the 20's and the 30's.  The V-neck and square shapes, so popular before, are softening to curves. In the 20's light chiffon was weighted by beads and fringe.  Here the skirt is made of 6 curved pieces left to float.  The pattern on this dress is quieter, with blue hydrangeas and tiny pink leaves.  Both the skirt and the long cape/collar are full circles that can flow out behind the  wearer as she walks.

Two floral silk chiffon afternoon dresses

Gold and silver metallic leaves float down this evening dress of cream silk chiffon.  Likely it was worn over a pale form fitting silk slip.  The dress spirals in 3 pieces around the body with diagonal seams from the left shoulder to the right hip.  All this bias stretch eliminates the need for any openings.  Eight small triangular godets are inserted into the skirt, nearly doubling the fullness at the calves.  The edges of hem, neckline, arms eyes and the inside seams are bound with hand-rolled and stitched chiffon binding.

Evening dress of cream chiffon with metallic pattern

War Relief uniform

Jacket, skirt, cuffs, collar, hat, (in accessory list) plus medals and patch

Jacket 

Heathered charcoal grey twill wool

Jacket below hip length

Two large patch buttoned pockets on each side of CF

Two  buttoned patch pockets over each breast

Shoulder straps with buttons

CF with 4 buttons

Turn back lapels, blue and gold insignia 

Left sleeve with SC insignia from Smith War Relief

Cuffs have decorative tab with button

Self belt with one button

CB vent

Lining brown silk

Skirt

No lining

Grosgrain band inside waist

CF snap opening

Two large buttoned patch pockets over each hip

A shape

Belt

Self belt 2 1/2" wide 

Tacked to skirt at CB and sides

Collar

White cotton

Buttonholes on neck band

One self covered button

Pointed tips

Cuffs

Pair, turned back French cuffs

Buttonholes to attach to shirtwaist and holes for cufflinks

Smith College Relief Unit Uniform

Tunic dresses were a popular style in the years after World War 1.  This navy and coral silk crepe dress has a tunic top over a skirt.  The tunic falls straight from the shoulders to the low waist.  The front and back panels, open on the sides, tie with coral colored floral ribbon at each hip.  The lower layer, the skirt, drapes from a tight waistband, finishing in deep scallops below the knees.  The sleeves are tiered, too.  The label for the dress is "Grantier, Herkemer, NY", a small town in the middle of New York.  Cora Grantier was a dressmaker there, working out of her home.  The dress was probably made for the mother of the donor, a well-to-do widow who had been presented to Queen Victoria in 1892, lived in New York early in her marriage, traveled often to Europe and, according to her obituary, "was one of the first white women to visit Alaska."

Large plaid apron, hem nearing ankle length, gathered to smooth waist band,hand stitched.

Plaid Apron

This dress was probably worn by the donor when she would have been about 12.  It is made of silk organza and decorated with lace inserts and rows of narrow ruffles.  The collar and shape is a "middy" style like the loose slip-on shirts worn by sailors (midshipmen).  It is a style worn by girls and young women through the twenties.

Party dress

The Great Depression brought on unemployment, poverty and a reaction to the dizzying and scandalous twenties. In this conservative shift, women were encouraged to return to their traditional roles as homemakers and "ladies".  The fashion industry abandoned the draped, relaxed boyish style that dominated the previous decade and returned to a more tailored fit, emphasizing a more traditional "feminine" shape.  This look spread quickly glamorized by the stars of Hollywood.  These day coats have a bit of inexpensive fur to frame the face, a token of glamour in a bleak economy. Over the five years between these two coats, the loose fit and dropped waist of the 20's has risen, the cut is more shapely and the hem has fallen matching the shape of the dresses worn underneath.

Wool day coats from thirties

The earliest automobiles were luxury status symbols of the upper classes.  The novelty presented a fashion dilemma for both men and women: the open-air vehicles exposed the riders to the dirt and grime of the unpaved roads.  These lightweight coats, called dusters, topped with hats, veils and goggles, were the solution for summer driving.  The overall shape and styling was similar for men and women, making it difficult to distinguish a man's duster from a woman's duster.  Looking at the buttons often helps, since by this time women's outer garments generally buttoned right side over left and men's outer garments usually buttoned left side over right, as is still the norm.

Linen dusters

Before the twentieth century, sports and leisure activities were almost exclusively reserved for the privileged classes.  The first "sportswear" for women was for horseback riding; these were female versions of men's attire.  By the second half of the 19th century, leisure time sports activities, such as golf, tennis and bathing for women of the middle classes grew along with a demand for specially designed clothing.  Circular golf capes, such as these, were popular through the last decade of the 19th century and into the 20th century.  Double-faced wool fabrics were common and the coats typically closed with two buttoned straps in front. While these two capes have fabric, plaids and closures in common, their shapes differ significantly to accommodate the cut of the bodice sleeves underneath.  The navy golf cape is nearly a full circle, wide enough to drape across the exaggerated shoulders, allowing room for the huge "gigot" or "leg-of-mutton" sleeves of the mid 1890's.  Five years later, the bodice shoulders were narrow, the upper arms slender and the fullness of the sleeve had dropped down to a full "bishop" sleeve at the wrist.  The brown cape is fitted around the shoulders, finishing with a flip of a bias ruffle at the hem, echoing the fullness at the wrist and even the bell shape of the skirt's hem below.

Short wool golf capes

Between 1865 and 1890, the focus of women's dress shifted to the rear, to cascading puffs of fabric, sashes, fringes and ruffles.  All this bulk had to be supported by lightweight but sturdy frames called bustles.  These were constructed out of horsehair flounces, metal cages or wire springs.  The bustle grew, deflated and grew again over these 25 years, made more obvious by the tailored bodices above and the sleek skirt fronts.  The light brown and white wool over-garments are dolman capes characterized by loose, sling-like sleeves cut with the body of the garment so that they resembled half-jacket, half cape.  This semi-fitted style could reveal the shapely contours of the fashionable silhouette, but did constrict arm movement.  The brown wool dolman has a fitted under layer with enough fullness in the back to fit over the first bustle, which lasted roughly from 1869 to 1878.  This white wool cloak portrays a mid-bustle period outer garment when the fullness of the bustle dropped into a fishtail train. This cloak has a deep fringe, which had become fashionable by 1878.  By 1883, the bustle had begun to rise back to the low hip level and expand into the third bustle style. The third bustle over-garment is a coat with sleeves, tailored to reveal the shapely contours of the fitted bodice underneath and fanning out over the bloated bustle skirt. The fringe trim has grown, too. The brown plush coat can be referred to as a visite, a tight short coat usually with long panels down the front, worn with a muff for day social calls.

Short dolmans and jacket

The majority of this dress, on front and back panels, is covered with sequins on silk tulle netting.  Most are black but there are three vertical stripes of opalescent green and an insert along the front neckline.  All this floats over a firmer layer of dark blue silk satin.  Under all, a wide fitted petersham belt holds the dress firmly at the hipline to blouse slightly.  Just below the gathering, there are black silk tulle godets or triangle inserts on each side seam between the front and back panels.  However fluid the dress appears, it is securely held in place.

Evening dress

U.S. Navy dress uniform, dark gray wool, jacket with attached pins, skirt.

Women's Dark Gray U.S. Navy Dress Uniform

White and silver Prom dress

The dolman is a cape with close sleeves, covering just the lower arm.  It fits snugly around the shoulders and torso, leaving the wearer nearly immobilized from the waist up.  However, this wrap would give an illusion of movement with light bouncing off the matte and satin surfaces, the wide soft lace fluttering and the gold beads dangling all around the edges. Emile Pingat was one of the first couture designers along with Doucet and Worth, all in Paris.  His atelier was small and more exclusive than Worth's. The cloak came from a prosperous family in Augusta, Georgia with several daughters.  The family business was originally a dry goods/furniture store, but by this time they ran a funeral parlor.

White evening dolman sleeve cape !

Jacket

Dark brown superfine wool broadcloth

Padded by cotton to shape mono-bosom

Front with 3 vertical tucks from shoulders to waist.

Waist dips at CF

Around neck, waist  and cuffs, brown cotton velvet and braid edging

Two piece curved sleeves, full at shoulder

Tapers to wrist, three topstitched darts at elbow

CF closure with hooks and eyes

Smooth skirt, flares to above knee length

Back with stitched down box pleat from collar to hem; stitched pleat on each side

Lined with cream silk satin

Pocket inside right waist



Blouse

Sheer brown silk 

Yoke of white netting covered with horizontal tucks

High collar of netting with pleated silk ruffle

Boned with wires

Higher on sides, dipping on front

Three rosettes over hook and eye closure on CB

Body and sleeves of brown, narrow tucks vertical on bodice and horizontal on sleeves

CF and CB gathered into waist seam for pouched front

Paler brown silk peplum to tuck under skirt

Sleeves gather at shoulder, narrow at wrist, closing with hook and eye



Skirt

Brown super fine wool

Six opposing stitched down pleats, fullness released at knee

Inverted box pleat at CB with hooks and eyes

Waist bound with brown silk tape

Lined with brown weighted silk with pleated ruffle around bottom

Wool tape at hem

Woman's walking suit

The peaked sleeve cap identifies this dress from the beginning of the 1890's.  It has grown as the bustle has shrunk.  The bodice is a "tailor-made", with revers (lapels), tail and a suggested waistcoat (vest) and high collared white neck insert.  The skirt falls smoothly over the hips, flaring at the base. There is a modified bustle of steel and ties built into the back of the skirt.  The outfit may be one predominant color but it combines silk faille, velvet and brocade.  The name of the dressmaker is woven into the silk petersham waist belt inside the bodice.

Two piece day ensemble in rust red

Bodices of the 1850's usually closed down the center front like this one.  The row of delicate self-fabric covered buttons and buttonholes hide the brass hooks and eyes that hold the bodice firm and tight around the torso.  The skirt, with a 22" waist, fastens in the center back.  Most of the fullness of 8 panels is in very small gathers about 8" wide at the center back.  Some fullness is tucked into knife pleats on the sides leaving little to gather at the front which falls closer to the body.  The two layers of the pagoda sleeves are curved out away from the torso and are finished with silk fringe.  The white cotton undersleeves and collar can be detached for cleaning.  The green is a ribbed weave pressed into a watered pattern and the black is a lush satin weave.  Each panel is 14" wide.

Green and black silk satin day dress

Likely this dress has been altered.  It came with some extra scraps saved by a thrifty owner, the great-grandmother of the donor.  This woman was born in Vermont in 1829 and lived in Marlborough, N.H.  What is now a fitted bodice with a straight waist gathered into a band and attached to a full skirt may have been originally separate pieces in the 1840's.  That original bodice would have had a long pointed center front down below the navel.  Those sleeves would have been long and tight fitting.  These are shorter, wider "pagoda" sleeves worn with white cotton under sleeves stitched, like the collar, into the dress.  The skirt is made of 7 lengths of 23" wide silk taffeta, 160" around the hem which is covered with a thin band of brown cotton to protect it from wear and dirt.  The bodice is lined with more brown cotton with 3 bones stitched between the layers.  Two are hidden under the gathers across the bosom and one is down the right center front next to the round brass eyes that hook the bodice closed.

Brown plaid silk day dress

Blue and purple hydrangeas float on this silk chiffon dress with its own cream silk satin slip.  The flaring skirt and wide cape collar drape in soft folds, not the geometric pleats of the mid-twenties.  This shape has curves versus the straight, sleek look preferred before.

Mid-length and short wool capes with couching

The ensemble is missing an overskirt.  The bodice is cut in the "tailor made" style, fitted with button closures, cuffed sleeves and a variation of a tail like a man's tail coat.  The tabs of silk at the cuffs and the panings of blue satin holding a drape of pale green satin at the hips are features used in the Renaissance.

Two piece day or dinner ensemble in deep blue

The donor, who married shortly after her graduation from Smith in 1927, had this dress in her wedding trousseau.  It was made in her hometown in Ohio.  There is no front or back; both pieces are identical.  The chiffon is encrusted with a patchwork design of geometrical patterns with flashes of black sequins like lightning bolts and highlights of bright red.  It suggests the fractured and splintered paintings of George Braque, Marcel Duchamp and the early cubist paintings by Picasso.  In both art and fashion, Cubism was the modern style.

The fringe on this fragile red silk chiffon dress is not a heavy fringe but bias strips of chiffon tipped with chenille, a lightweight, fuzzy velvety yarn named for the French word for a hairy caterpillar.  The bias bands lie in four curved arches of concentric half circles.  More curved strips arch in an opposing direction.  These curves are a classic twenties Art Deco motif, similar to the seven concentric arches on each side of the crown of the Chrysler Building in New York City.  All of the yards of bias strips are hand finished and hand stitched to the simple sheath of chiffon. The dress has a red silk satin slip.

The donor crocheted this dress and belt of rose red silk crepe in her senior year at Smith College.  Included in the donation was the remainder of the last skein of silk.  The front and back are identical.  Because of the elasticity of the crochet it needs no extra openings; it pulls on over the head and stretches to fit with only a narrow band of elastic to hold the waist close to the body.  The upper sleeves are made with slits to drape open on the upper arm and fit tight on the lower arm in a "medieval" style.  This dress suited the ideal body shape made popular by film stars of the time: long legged, narrow hipped and broad shouldered.

Rose red silk crocheted dinner or evening gown

Suit uniform

WAVE

Navy blue twill wool jacket and skirt

Collar with rounded ends overlapping the high wide lapels, part of front panels

Padding in shoulders

Jacket/ Blouse

Pocket flaps over each breast, decorative

Left flap has pin bars wrapped with colored striped ribbons

SB CF closure with 4 bass buttons (Superior Quality on back), eagle stamped

Princess seaming as well as vertical fish dart

Back princess seams

Long sleeves have 3 bands of gold braid around wrist and applique of star made with gold coils on back of wrist

Lined with navy blue rayon

Breast pockets in lining

Skirt

Matching twill wool

Smooth fit into waistband 1 1/2" with extended tab with button, flared to hem

Six panels

Pocket over each hip

Left closure with 7" metal zipper and buttons, 

Unlined

Shirt

White cotton

Deeply pointed collar

CF closure with 4 MOP buttons and smaller MOP at neck; can leave neck open

Yoke across back

Square yoke over front of shoulders; front pleated into yoke

Back body gathered into back yoke

Short sleeves with turn back cuffs

Fitted with 3 vertical fish darts, fullness released at top if each dart, a tuck,  on each side of front and back

Flat felled seams

Woman's WAVES uniform

White short-sleeved blouse. Black high waisted skirt. Black knot tie.

Women's Uniform

Black leather â€œWave Officerâ€ shoe (pumps) with 2 inch heels. "TALL GALS SALON-ELITE" printed on left heel interior. "SHOECRAFT 603 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK" printed on right heel interior.

Women's Black Leather "Wave Officer" Shoes

Printed light cotton house dress printed with lavender polka dot, trimmed with border print, beige and purple down CF, around waist,neckline, shoulder flanges and cuffs of 3/4 length sleeve

Square neck

CF button opening

Waist slightly raised

Skirt has tuck at knee level

5 mother of pearl buttons plus 5 hooks and eyes

Tucks over shoulder front and at CB

Looks homemade

House Dress

The Arab burnouse first grew popular in Western fashion in the 1860's, during the crinoline era.  The exaggerated shapes were not conducive to tight, tailored coats.  Thus, Western fashionable ladies adopted the untailored draping of large swaths of wool fabric, either shawls or these North African cloaks, complete with the tassels hanging off the hoods.  Several decades later, this nostalgia for exoticism and foreign lands returned.  This time it was adopted not to drape over a huge pyramidical shape, but to complement the straight, geometric columns of the teens and twenties styles.  Also, they were more likely made of lustrous fabrics such as these satins and velvets.  In this era, designers often exploited high light contrasts of shiny fabrics against matte surfaces.

Silk evening burnouses and cloak

This black silk crepe evening dress has several striking features.  First, there is the asymmetry of the drapery emphasized by the long bias cut swag knotted at the shoulder.  Second, there are no closures.  The dress slips easily over the shoulders due to the stretch of the bias pieces and the natural ease of crepe.  Third, the front and back are identical, so the piece can drape from either shoulder.  The owner lived in Paris between 1928 and 1942 where she was an occasional model.

Black, one shouldered silk crepe evening gown

Suit

Jacket, blouse, skirt, hat

Reverse twill heathered blue and green cotton with slubbed yarn

Jacket

Asymmetrical opening right overlapping to left, with point at left shoulder

Broad square neckline

Overlap slants down to CF waist, with straight flat peplum to hips, slightly curved over back hips

One large self covered button at waist seam, snaps at neckline

Two rows of topstitching around neckline, down CF

Curved seams over bust from armhole

Back in 3 panels

Sleeves 3/4 length

Lined with olive green silk

Blouse/Shell

Same fabric with broad square neckline, curving out to shoulder

Waist length

Topstitching

Cap sleeves

Waist length with vertical and diagonal darts from waist to bust points

CB zipper closure

Lined with olive green silk

Back with curved seam to fit

Skirt

Straight above knee length

Two 3" darts over each hip in front

One 5" dart over each back hip

Side closure, 8 1/2" plastic zipper, 

Waistband with some elastic inserted

Lined with olive green silk

Hem dips slightly in front

This dinner dress with jacket of black rayon velvet was worn for the donor's rehearsal dinner.  She bought it in Paris.  The full circle skirt, made from four pieces, is a novelty after years of straight, lean dresses.  This fullness reminds us that the so-called New Look of Dior in 1947 did not appear out of the blue; just before the war and the rationing of fabric, skirts for young women could be lavish and full like this one.  The silver and gold paillettes on the jacket reflect the influence of Elsa Schiaparelli, the Parisian designer renowned for her sequinned bodices and jackets at this time.

Black velvet dinner dress and jacket with paillettes

The empire style of a straight column of drapery and a high waist was high fashion especially in the years 1912 and 1913.  Heavy fringe on delicate fabrics was popular, too, like the white silk fringe and silver beaded fringe on the sleeves and on the train of the green dress. The bodice is trimmed with pale pink pearls and pink chiffon rose buds.  The other evening gown has similar proportions with the high waist and short sleeves, although the shape is less angular and more curved, like the swirling feathers "drawn" on the net overskirt in black and silver sequins.  However soft they both look, they both are boned in the bodice.  Both dresses belonged to Florence Elizabeth Hopwood '11 who married the widowed tycoon, Charles William Gates soon after her graduation.  Both dresses are likely made in France.

Evening dress of green ombre chiffon and Evening dress with black lace over white

The wide sash of silk embroidery floss on silk net accentuates the new raised Directoire waistline.  The bodice, lined with a lightly boned taffeta, has sleeves cut in a T-shape, kimono style.  The bead trim is in a gunmetal beads, attached in the Luneville or tambour method.  It was made for Florence Elizabeth Hopwood '11 after her wedding to Charles William Gates, a renowned tycoon.

Evening dress in pink

According to its label, this party dress is a "Betty Wales" dress, probably designed for a college girl.  The manufacturer took the name of a heroine of several short stories, popular among this young set.  The company chose conservative styles, simple enough to last more than one season and thereby justifying the advertising in a monthly magazine.  One dress style, advertised in several magazines, sold 4,000 copies in one month of 1917; this was remarkable at the time and established the importance of targeted advertising.  Each customer would receive a coupon for the latest Betty Wales story pamphlet in exchange for the names and addresses of five friends, collected by the company.  The company then sent their season style books directly to these young women rather than the usual distribution through the stores selling the garments.  This, too, was a new ploy that was soon copied by other manufacturers.  The dress itself has a slightly dropped waist with a skirt gathered with small gauge pleats.  This fullness at the hips, the slightly shaped torso and the deep collar mimic a style made popular by the great French designer, Jean Lanvin.

Dinner party dress

All three of these capes fit smoothly over the shoulders and drop straight down the sides with little extra fullness.  They are tubes wrapped around the narrow dresses underneath.  The two in the back are reminiscent of the domino, a lightweight silk taffeta cape often in black and popular in Venice in the late 18th century.  The cut of the black and white cloak with its slits for the arms and the loose belting was a popular shape used by both couture Paris designers as well as Red Cross nurses uniforms from World War I.

Black silk capes

The first decade of the 20th century may have been the last gasp of the perfect lady.  All the firm fabrics and fitted bodices of the previous decade gave way to soft drapery hanging over the bosom and lightweight skirts sweeping the legs and floor.  This two-piece silk day outfit has this rounded "pouter pigeon" chest hanging from a curved lace yoke.  The cuffs are wide circles and the pattern is a swirling pinwheet on the copper background.  The shape is an undulation of convex to concave lines.

Copper silk day ensemble

This cape was for summer use.  Even in warm weather, a lady would wear some extra covering- plus a parasol- when out in public.  Its buttons were probably made of "vegetable ivory", a nut imported from South America, and first mass-produced in Leeds, Massachusetts, up the road from Northampton, in 1859 by an Englishman, A.W. Critchlow.  Samuel Williston, of Easthampton, Massachusetts, had already made a fortune with the Hayden brothers of Haydenville, Massachusetts, manufacturing covered buttons.  By 1875, Springfield, Massachusetts was the commercial center of composition buttons.

Short linen cape

Knee length plaid (green, brown, black, red, white) hose dress.  V-neck with collar, short sleeves, three buttons down breast (Shirtwaist).

Both dresses are floor length.  The ensemble on the left shows changes from the 1930's.  The short "bolero" jacket, the soft gathering under the bosom, the short puffed sleeves are some of those features.  The rayon crepe fabric is here cut not on the bias anymore but on the straight grain, which uses less fabric.  The yellow dress is made of silk chiffon which has a diamond pattern on the short puff sleeves and bodice.  This pattern is made by taking tiny tucks, all on the bias, on this especially flimsy fabric, a style made famous by Mme. Vionnet, the Paris designer.

Rayon crepe dinner dress and jacket and silk chiffon dinner dress

Floral 1930s day dress with lace inset collar.

Floral Day Dress with Lace Collar

The shape of this 2 piece day ensemble was formed by a straight front corset with a long center front bask bone that pushes the hips back and thrusts the bosom forward.  This makes an undulating S curve in profile with a low matronly bosom, a tiny angled waist and wide, padded hips.  The skirt flares out at the hem.  Even the sleeves undulate from tight to full to tight again.  This shape is reflected in the new style of art, l'Art Nouveau, and even the original shape of the Coca Cola bottle.  In an era known for its elaborate trimmings, this outfit is relatively plain.  The major decoration is made with narrow strips of silk velvet set into slashed in the wool.  This style first appeared in the Renaissance when outer layers were slashed to show off sumptuous under layers.

Gray wool two piece day dress with velvet inserts

Suit

Maternity Suit

Two piece maternity suit, jacket and skirt of blue cotton with slubbed weave



Jacket

Collar with rounded corners

CF closure with 4 grey/blue plastic buttons

Waist seam with 7 ¼” band below

Two pockets on front seam

Darts from front shoulder to bust on each side

No other shaping

Long sleeves, straight with turn-back wide 2 ¾” cuffs, vented

Lined with grey rayon crepe



Label: 

FASHIONS FOR “HER HIGHNESS”

TAILORED BY JAIN SAX

NEW YORK

Clothing, maternity suit

This suit consists of a riding jacket and skirt of dark blue wool in a twill weave. The jacket has a black lining, possibly silk, and the sleeves are lined with dark and cream striped material of the same type.

The jacket is styled closely after men’s jackets of the period with a small lapel, nearly smooth construction where the sleeve connects to the body at the top of the armseye, and quite a straight line down the torso. The sleeves are made in two pieces. On the bodice, there are darts from each bust point to the hem. The jacket closes down the center front with six working buttons.

The skirt has a sort of pocket shape for the right knee to allow the skirt to drape smoothly while mounted sidesaddle. There is a button and loop for this to be hooked up with while standing or walking. The skirt closure consists of three buttons and a hook and eye. There is a pocket concealed in the skirt between the buttons and the wearer’s hip. It is only accessible when the buttons are undone. 

The woman who wore this would have worn a pair of breeches under the skirt, and boots. A hat was a must. Acceptable styles included top hats, bowlers, and sailors. She would have worn a shirtwaist and probably a waistcoat under the jacket, and around her neck would have been stocks much like a man’s. Her hands would have been covered by gloves, and she would have carried a riding crop.

Woman's Riding Habit

This sleek dinner dress of rayon and wool crepe reflects the ideal "pencil thin" figure made popular by stars such as Loretta Young and Ginger Rogers.  The dress has at least 5 different manipulations of the fabric: discreet tucks or darts to shape the cuffs, gathers of the upper sleeve into the bodice, topstitching on the belt and large braided cords at the neck.  It closes inconspicuously on the left side with small snaps- no zippers yet.  This leaves the back of the dress completely smooth with no seams.  Rhinestones embellish the belt buckle.

Gray crepe dinner dress short

By 1888, the bustle era had nearly disappeared and the overall shape was relatively straight and vertical.  This cloak is a sleek fitted cover made of long vertical panels of silk.  It fits so snugly that there are only slits for the hands at the front.  There are a few pleats at the center back waist to accommodate what little fullness remains from the end of the bustle skirt.

Full-length silk cloak

knit pantsuit, white and silver tunic and slacks. Label reads: Size 11, ILGWU (International Ladies Garment Workers Union)

Suit

By the end of the 1930's, broad shoulders were the ideal.  Evening jackets such as this vivid bolero would accent this shape.  The base of the jacket is red silk crepe covered with five overlapping rows of feathers.  The jacket closes with a hook and eye at the neck.  According to its label, it is from Best and Co., a mid-level New York department store on Fifth Avenue.  Another label notes that it is a size 14, but sizes vary considerably from one decade to another.

Red feather bolero jacket

White net shawl, narrow (14") and long, with leaf pattern embroidery in white, scalloped and embroidered borders.

White Lace Shawl

These two coats illustrate a range of influences and international styles that can be seen in the art, architecture and furnishings of this decade   The blue coat has a pattern reminiscent of the Weiner Werkstatte school of design: simple, large floral motifs like an abstract Japanese crest. It is a simple T-shape like a kimono, buttoned low on the hips.  This would match the straight tubular dress worn underneath for much of the decade. The bold black and orange pattern is a fine example of the Art Deco style that drew on an eclectic range of geometric patterns from the ancient Egyptians inspired by the discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922 and the craze for Mexican and Aztec art.  It buttons a bit higher on the waist, has more drape on the sleeve and flared gores in the skirt, fitting the more curved shaping popular by the early 30's. Both patterns incorporate pools of reflective threads surrounded by matte areas, another popular motif of the Deco style.

Silk and metallic brocade evening coat

During World War II, most countries had restrictions on public consumption of gas, foods and textiles.  As a result, clothing was simple and modest: no pleats or cuffs, short plain skirts and narrow sleeves.  The brown plaid coat has the large shoulder pads, large buttons and nipped in waist of the dresses and suits at the time.  Even with the plain neck and sleeves, it is a model of fine tailoring.  At every seam of all 10 separate pieces, the plaid matches perfectly.  After the war, fashion styles took an abrupt turn, inspired by Christian Dior's extravagant New Look presented in 1947.  Instead of economical spareness, he celebrated large, lush skirts, a tiny waist, a high full bosom and rounded, softened shoulders.  These clothes required yards of fabric, layers of underpinnings and extra trims.  The red coat is the American department store version of the French couture style.  It is cut and shaped to fit over a New Look outfit, in 14 separate gores, each one flaring out at the hem to make this huge circle skirt.  Sandwiched between the lush, soft wool outer layer and the rayon lining, there is an interfacing of stiff material to help support this heavy skirt, just like the petticoats worn under the full skirts underneath.  The deep cuffs and the wide tucks in the gores use up even more fabric.

Wool Day Coats from forties

In the 1950's, the couture designers Cristobal Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent began to design semi-fitted dresses which no longer clung or hugged the body.  They tended to hang from the shoulders in styles called the trapeze or sack.  By the 1960's, the fitted bodice, tiny waist and bouffant skirt had disappeared in favor of this abstract style.  Most dresses were cut in one, with no waist seam, skimming over the body in an A-shape.  Delicate details gave way to big buttons and large patch pockets.  Both the sleeves and the hem were short.  But still, this loose nearly shapeless coat would have a lady's accessories: a hat, gloves and purse.

Wool coat A shape

These capes demonstrate the influence of undergarments on the shape and style of the outer garments.  Petticoats or crinolines were made to support large dome-shaped skirts, which in turn were covered by overcoats that could adapt to the shape and size of the skirt.  The skirt silhouette was of a pyramid or cone, and the capes and shawls worn as over-garments helped extend this shape. Crinoline originally referred to the stiff material made with a weft of horsehair that helped hold out the hems of skirts in the 1830's.  Twenty years later, however, crinoline came to refer to entire petticoats with horsehair ruffles or a lightweight steel cage holding the skirt in a huge bell shape, up to six feet in diameter by 1860.  By the mid 1860's, crinolines were flattening in the front and on the sides, creating more of a half cone shape, with most of the volume in the rear. Likely, middle class women wore these capes.  They are made by hand of fabrics that had to be pieced, in some cases at the front.  The velvet cape was probably an evening cape, with the quilted lining for warmth. The red or scarlet cloak was probably made for a young woman or girl, but it had been a popular cloak color for men and women since the 15th century.

Short capes

Most coats in the 1930's have oversized collars, at least as wide as the shoulders and often covered with a length of plush fur.  The volume of the collar of this black silk taffeta evening jacket builds out of parallel rows of gathers, called shirring, at the center back and on either side of the front opening.  Many coats have some sleeve detail, either a deep cuff or, as in this one, a "medieval" two-part sleeve, full at the elbow and fitted down on the lower arm.