Object: Tea gown
Designer:
Lucile
(1863 - 1935)
Date: c. 1918
Medium: Chartreuse silk chiffon, ecru lace, mink, pink silk flowers, and velvet ribbons
Country: USA
Credit Line: Gift of Elizabeth Roberts
Object number: 90.180.4
DescriptionYellow / green silk chiffon peignoir, alternating ecru lace panels, fur collar, cuffs on long kimono sleeve, pink rosette, pink, brown, green velvet ribbon streamers at center front closing; with matching nightgown, slip styling.
Label Text:Tea gowns were worn for entertaining at home during the waning hours of the afternoon. They occupied a place somewhere between dress and undress, and in the 1910s they often featured an unorthodox combination of colors and materials. This tea gown is trimmed with thick bands of mink, exemplifying the increasingly opulent design of interior garments during the early decades of the twentieth century. In 1922, etiquette expert Emily Post described the tea gown as “a hybrid between a wrapper and a ball dress.”
Exhibitions:
- Exposed: A History of Lingerie
- Designing Women: Fashion Creators and Their Interiors
- Night and Day