#1164 $795
Muslin work dress, c.1900
The bold graphic design of this late Victorian work dress is quite wonderful. The cheerful red detailing and handmade Cluny lace cuffs suggest the owner cared about her appearance even while attending to housekeeping.
The manufactured dress is fashioned from muslin. The expensive Cluny lace cuffs were probably added by hand by the original owner. The style features figure-flattering princess-line seams, red cotton piping, and a back train. There is a deep set-in pocket on one side seam.
Unlike formal and visiting dresses of the period, the work dress had no boned inner structure. The skirt is cut longer and fuller in back, forming a small train. The dress closes in front with buttons.
While the dress is of course not high fashion, it nevertheless has a lively personality of its own, a token of good design—it is fresh, young, and cheerful. The designer made a winning bet on composition. There is a sense of modernism, even Courrèges-like futurism, in the vertically and horizontally marked off white spaces on the bodice and cuffs respectively.
The condition is excellent.
It measures: 36" bust, 27" waist, 42" hip, 14" from shoulder seam to shoulder seam, 21" sleeve length (including the lace ruffle), and 54 1/2" from the shoulder to the front hem (longer in back).
