Dress
c. 1895
Silk and lace
Museum purchase
Object numberP85.13.8
This clover print teagown lends a gracefulness to the line of the body, with structural support provided by a fitted inner lining. Tea gowns were originally associated with the Aesthetic dress movement, which opposed the corset and sought to reveal a more natural figure. By the end of the nineteenth century, tea gowns were adopted by women of fashion who wore them with or without a corset.
DescriptionTea gown / robe: white light purple clover print silk; taffeta ribbon ties and hem ruffle; beige lace edging; band collar; narrow, gathered capelet; floor length straight-line front with princess-line pleat tacked at shoulder and at intervals from hip to hem, pieced below hip to form A-line sides; fitted back with double armhole pincess seams and deep, multiple, symmetrical side pleats at center; curved, ruffled train; leg o' mutton sleeves with ruffled cuff; center front panel attached under right and lower left robe edges; hook and eye at left neck and at waist; center front pleats; fitted, button front, cotton under bodice; long center front tiesCollections
Exhibitions