Circa 1900 Royal Blue Silk Taffeta Day Dress

This is a late nineteenth century/very early twentieth century two piece day dress. Made out of a very dark royal blue silk taffeta, the bodice is a very fitted single breasted jacket with a peplum cut in the back and tiny left side pocket detail in the front. The sleeves go to below the elbow and they have an antique lace ruffled trim. The buttons down the front are brown, round and knitted. The neckline is v-neck although was originally a crew neck that has been folded under. The skirt is full and does up at the natural waist with a hook & eye. It has been tacked up in two places across the front giving it even more body. The bottom trim in the front of the skirt is made of one row of tiny verticle accordion pleating also in the silk taffeta. The back is more ornate and has a big bouffant from the top of the skirt to the bottom and has three rows of this accordion pleating trim.

Label: None

Fabric: Silk taffeta, lined in cotton.

Condition: For its age, this dress is in extraordinary condition. There are however, a few tears in the skirt in various places simply due to age and two of the buttons on the jacket are a bit worn. Also, as mentioned in the description, the jacket neckline has been altered by tucking it under in a v-neck formation. There is also a tiny red mark on the front of the jacket and some of the pleating in the front jacket needs attention. Lastly, the interior cotton lining is quite browned.

Measurements: 34" bust, 28" waist, sleeves 12" from shoulder to end of taffeta and 15" to end of lace trim, skirt 40" long.