1971.38.1

Wedding Dress, 1878

Purple silk taffeta, white silk chiffon, purple silk ribbon, tan and brown polished cotton

Scale: 1 box = 1"

The gown is fully flatlined with polished cotton. The collar, a rectangle cut on the bias and self-

lined, is covered with four rectangles of graduating size, slipstitched through all the layers. The

center back seam, the side dart, and the front darts are boned between the marks; a double mark

indicates where the 25.5" waist stay is stitched down. At X marks are placed small half-bows,

drawn to scale on pattern, made from a matching silk ribbon. The train is pieced together, and

piped with purple silk and a thick cord from mark to mark, all the way around. Two black silk

buttons are sewn to the left side seam. A padded cushion is sewn in on each side of the bust,

indicated with a dashed line.

The top piece of the two-piece sleeve is gathered at the elbow between the marks. There is white

chiffon ruffle inside the sleeve opening, and a narrowly knife-pleated taffeta ruffle, 4" wide,

sewn around the outside where indicated. Over the ruffle is a straight-grain band, twisted

regularly, with a ribbon half-bow on top of the arm.

A cotton apron-like underskirt is sewn to the side seams, with no remaining method of closure on

the waistband. A broad silk band covers the bottom of the apron, below the dashed line, with a

box-pleated taffeta ruffle covering the bottom edge, as diagrammed. The cut areas on the top of

this ruffle are folded down behind, and every other pleated section is tucked 1" on top of the

seam which holds it to the skirt. Silk panels cover the skirt as shown, with both panels gathered

from the bottom to the mark for 12.5" and sewn to the apron. On the left side, the triangular

piece is gathered to 20" and sewn to the piped edge of the train (along with the apron itself on the

line extending from the triangle), and gathered to 14" on the vertical side and sewn to the apron

from the mark. The two dots above it represent a tacked-down pleat. Wool tape ties are attached

to underside of skirt at T, to tie behind the legs, and the lower edge is bound with the same. This

underskirt and the train are backed from the dotted line with a separate, heavy lining of black

polished cotton embossed with a diamond pattern.

The tablier front drape is piped along the lower edge. Where marked, it is pleated up to be sewn

below lower button, and B and C are tacked together. Except for this area, the piped edge is

decorated with half-bows every 2.5". The upper edge from the button to D is pleated, and D is

sewn 5" below the button. The area between E and F is sewn to the piped seam below the button,

and the next mark is tacked to the side seam. The diagonal edge from A is gathered to 29", and

sewn to the piped edge of the train

Along the center back is a rectangle of self-lined taffeta, 66" long, with three knife pleats down

the length pointing to the left. 12.5" down from the top edge, it is tacked to H in the back seam,

and the top portion hangs down; it is tacked down on the right side at each H and on the left at

H', moving from top to bottom and twisting loosely between each tack. At the last H, it is tacked

open on both sides.