Two-piece dress
c. 1890
Silk velvet
Gift of Mary Elizabeth Fogarty
Object number67.127.2
During the rapidly industrializing late 19th century, velvet was extremely popular for women’s fashion and interiors. Design scholar Freyja Hartzell theorizes that velvet’s seductively soft, “domesticated fur” texture served as a second skin for bourgeois consumers, providing comfort, protection, and “tactile pleasure in a culture whose taboos against touching are legendary.”
DescriptionReception gown in the Renaissance style purple velvet; bodice with attached back train; high neck edged with rouched velvet; leg o' mutton sleeves ending in shirred cuff; back cut in princess style; pleated train held by three hooks; bodice lined in silk; hooked front; matching underskirtCollections
Exhibitions