Medium: Chartreuse silk chiffon, ecru lace, mink, pink silk flowers, and velvet ribbons

Date: c. 1918

Country: USA (possibly)

Credit: Gift of Elizabeth Roberts

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.”

Object Number: 90.180.4