95.97.1

Images (5)

Technology_08 Left to right P92.2.14 (jacket and vest), 78.66.16 and 83.81.6 (comb and fan case), P72.1.2 (dress), 84.31.2B (textile wall), 95.97.1 (brown dress), 82.146.1 (textile wall), P85.31.3 (wedding dress), 2006.56.3 (grey silk dress), 2000.37.2 (textile wall), 2006.43.1 (purple dress), P88.50.6 (bustle case)

Technology_41 Left to right P72.1.2 (dress), 84.31.2B (textile wall), 95.97.1 (brown dress), 82.146.1 (textile wall), sewing machine loan (case)

Object: Dress

Date: c. 1844

Medium: Silk taffeta

Country: USA (possibly)

Credit Line: Museum purchase

Object number: 95.97.1

DescriptionDay dress in brown silk satin (cotton backed) with jacquard floral pattern; round neck, fitted bodice, piped seams; 3/4 length bell undersleeve with cap sleeve epaulette, with ruched ribbon edging; full skirt with cartridge pleats

Label Text:This conservative, very modest dress would have befitted Charlotte Bronte's fictional heroine, Jane Eyre. "[I] put on my black frock - which, Quakerlike as it was, at least had the merit of fitting to a nicety - and adjusted my clean white tucker, I thought I should do respectably enough," said Eyre. But Bronte described Eyre as being plain, and this dress is not exactly that. The dark brown silk taffeta holds subtle touches of luxury - a jacquard floral pattern, piped seams, and ruched ribbon edging - that enhance the quiet beauty of the dress.

Exhibitions:

Fashion & Textile History Gallery First Rotation
Fashion and Technology
Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion