Dress
c. 1830
White organdy and pink satin
Museum purchase
Object numberP73.1.3
In late 18th- and early 19th-century Europe, cotton was an imported luxury, making it a highly fashionable and expensive material for this dress. The fiber was in common use, however, in parts of Africa, Asia, and the Americas, where the cotton plant had been domesticated by 3500 BCE.
DescriptionWhite organdy dress with pink satin trim; off the shoulder collar bound in pink satin, with deep V front; raised waist, shirred balloon sleeves on drop shoulders, tapering to satin cord trimmed cuff; wide skirt with soft, unpressed pleats at waist; pink satin cord and triangular motifs above wide hemCollections
Exhibitions