Clothing & Accessories

Work, play, fashion, economic class, religious faith, even politics—all these aspects of American life and more are woven into clothing. The Museum cares for one of the nation's foremost collections of men's, women's, and children's garments and accessories—from wedding gowns and military uniforms to Halloween costumes and bathing suits.

The collections include work uniforms, academic gowns, clothing of presidents and first ladies, T-shirts bearing protest slogans, and a clean-room "bunny suit" from a manufacturer of computer microchips. Beyond garments, the collections encompass jewelry, handbags, hair dryers, dress forms, hatboxes, suitcases, salesmen's samples, and thousands of fashion prints, photographs, and original illustrations. The more than 30,000 artifacts here represent the changing appearance of Americans from the 1700s to the present day.

Unfortunately, we do not know who wore this dress as it came from the estate of the donor. We believe that it was worn by a member of his family, perhaps his mother.This dress is deceptively simple in its overall appearance.
Description
Unfortunately, we do not know who wore this dress as it came from the estate of the donor. We believe that it was worn by a member of his family, perhaps his mother.
This dress is deceptively simple in its overall appearance. With its plain lines and minimum trimming, the dress appears at first glance to be an everyday dress. However, the interesting use of the darker brown fabric as neck and armhole piping and to edge the trimming indicates that the overall design and resulting effect was carefully thought out. It also appears that most of the sewing was done by hand and then carefully stitched over with darker brown thread for its decorative effect.
This bustle style two-piece dress is constructed of tan silk and wool in a ribbed weave. It is both hand and machine stitched. The bodice has a round neck edged with dark brown silk piping. The center front opening fastens with eleven dark brown silk covered buttons (all but one are missing). The bodice is cut longer at the sides and back than at the front, and the bottom edge of the front is trimmed with a self-ruffle edged with darker brown silk. There is a dart on either side of the center front bodice. A self-ruffle trims the edge of the side front opening and extends up over the shoulder on the bodice to come to a “V” shape at the center back. Additional petal shaped pieces of trim, edged with brown silk, are on the interior edge of the ruffle. The center back of the bodice is trimmed with a row of trefoil of petals. The bodice had a waist seam and a curved seam on either side of the center back that are stitched in dark brown. The center back of the bodice skirt is pleated to create fullness, and the fabric is caught up at intervals at the back to create additional fullness. The bodice is lined with brown cotton, and the skirt section of the bodice is lined with brown glazed cotton. The coat style sleeves are a two-part construction and are trimmed with a ruffle and petals at the opening. The armholes of the sleeves are piped with darker brown silk. The skirt has a self-fabric waistband, and it is cut flat at front with two pleats on either side. There is a side front seam, and two “U” shaped bands edged with brown silk fabric and trimmed with petals decorate the center front. A deep self-ruffle edged with darker brown silk fabric is attached near hemline. The skirt has a center back closure. The skirt top is folded over and whipped to the waistband, and it is gauged or narrowly pleated at the back. The skirt is entirely lined with glazed cotton, and the hem edge is bound with brown wool tape. The skirt waistband measures 23 inches, the skirt center front measures 40 inches, and the hem width is 118 inches.
This dress was exhibited in the Hall of American Costume of the Smithsonian Institution from 1964 to 1973.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1871 - 1875
1871-1875
ID Number
CS.223348.002
catalog number
223348.002
accession number
223348
There is no information as to who wore this dress designed by Louella Ballerino.Louella Ballerino, who was born in 1900, is best known for her garments incorporating "South of the Border" motifs.
Description
There is no information as to who wore this dress designed by Louella Ballerino.
Louella Ballerino, who was born in 1900, is best known for her garments incorporating "South of the Border" motifs. A native Californian, Ballerino graduated from the University of Southern California and sold fashion sketches to wholesale California manufacturers. After marrying Melvin Ballerino and having two children, money difficulties after the Depression prompted her to resume selling fashion sketches. When this did not realize the money she wanted, she found a job in a custom dress shop. She also began teaching a class in fashion design and illustration. While teaching, she stressed that fashion was really the ability to adapt old ideas into new forms. Eventually, she began working as a designer for a ready-made manufacturer and then decided to manufacture her own line. That dress, first produced in 1938, incorporated small wooden blocks, and proved to be a good seller. Over the years, she featured many fabrics with Mexican inspiration. Later she designed a line of clothing for Jantzen. As a California sportswear designer who adapted ethnic designs in fabrics and style for the American market in the 1930s and 1940s, Ballerino is most often associated with smart, casual clothes and swim suits. She was one of the first California sportswear designers known by name.
This one-piece dress is constructed of a slub rayon printed in green, red, blue, gold, brown, and burgundy on a cream colored ground. The large print of a woman carrying a child against a South or Central American landscape is placed along the lower bodice and skirt section. The fitted bodice has a scooped neckline with piping at the edge and bias cut cap sleeves. A center back opening extends into a gathered skirt section with the bodice fastening with four green matte buttons. The dress measures 42 1/4 inches at the center back. The missing belt was most likely a green sash that tied in front.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1940-1945
maker
Ballerino, Louella
designer
Ballerino, Louella
maker
Ballerino, Louella
ID Number
2000.0124.001
accession number
2000.0124
catalog number
2000.0124.001
According to the donor, we believe that this dress was worn by Electra Wade of Northfield, New Jersey. She was married to Henry Beach.Although the dress is fashionable in its cut, it was most likely a work or everyday dress.
Description
According to the donor, we believe that this dress was worn by Electra Wade of Northfield, New Jersey. She was married to Henry Beach.
Although the dress is fashionable in its cut, it was most likely a work or everyday dress. The heavyweight linen from which it is made dictated that pleats rather than gathers be used to control the fullness at the center back of the upper skirt section. The donor claimed that the fabric had been woven by the wearer Electra Wade. Although we know that less expensive fabrics of this type were available from merchants, the construction of this particular fabric does appear to confirm the donor’s claim. If one looks closely at the fabric, it is evident that it was woven by a less skilled weaver, who periodically lost the pattern by leaving out a row of one of the colors. These mistakes are most noticeable part way down the center front of the skirt section and near the sleeve area on the front.
The dress is constructed of a two-tone blue and brown woven linen plaid. It is an empire style with a center front bodice opening that extends four inches into skirt section. The front bodice extends into the back at the sides and is applied over the back at the seams where it topstitched. There is deep U-shape at front neckline. A drawstring is attached to the dress at the back shoulder on either side and is inserted into a casing at the front neckline for tying at center front. There is a rectangular piece over each shoulder. A drawstring at the waist seam is attached the dress at the sides for an additional front closure. Blue and white striped linen lines the bodice. The lining is attached at the back and sides, but extends below the waist seam and hangs free. At the front the lining hangs free and is meant to lap over at center front, but with no visible means of closure. The long straight sleeves are set in far to the back. The skirt section consists of four pieces to include a straight piece at front, a triangular gusset at either side, and a rectangular piece for the back. The skirt back is pleated into the waist seam with box pleats. There is a fold over hem in skirt section.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1795 - 1825
1795-1825
worn by
Beach, Electa Wade
ID Number
CS.255655.001
catalog number
255655.001
accession number
255655
There is no information as to who wore this dress designed by Adele Simpson. The Washington Fashion Group, a chapter of the Fashion Group International, donated this dress to the Smithsonian Institution in 1975.
Description
There is no information as to who wore this dress designed by Adele Simpson. The Washington Fashion Group, a chapter of the Fashion Group International, donated this dress to the Smithsonian Institution in 1975. This association of women executives began in 1931 at the insistence of a few prominent women in the fashion industry who wanted to promote more careers for women in the fashion business.
Adele Simpson, who was born in New York in 1905, created ready-made clothes for the sophisticated, yet conservative, American woman. She was one of the founders of the Fashion Group International and the Council of Fashion Designers of America. By 1924, she was one of the highest paid designers in the fashion industry, but her name was not known to the general public. At that time, manufacturers only put their name, not the designer’s, on their labels. When Ms. Simpson purchased Mary Lee, Inc. in 1949, where she had been working as chief designer, she changed the name to her own. She continued to run the business until her retirement in 1980. Her dresses were sold in the country’s leading department and specialty stores. Her customer list included five women who were or would become First Ladies of the United States: Mamie Eisenhower, Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter, and Barbara Bush.
Adele Simpson loved to travel and was interested in indigenous art from many parts of the world. She incorporated Indian fabrics in many of her collections, as evidenced in this dress, which was made from a sari.
This full length two-piece dress is constructed from a burnt orange and gold silk sari cloth. The dress is cut straight with shoestring straps, and it is semi-fitted with long darts on either side of the center front and the center back. Additional darts on the sides control the fit in place of side seams. There is a heavy gold metallic border at the bust and the hemline. A horizontal band with a curved wedge is inserted under the border at the bust for further shaping. There is a metal zipper at the center back opening. The accompanying shawl has a gold metallic woven border that is more prominent in the front. There is a snap closure covered with a bow that fastens over the shoulder. The center back of the dress measures 45 3/8 inches.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1960 - 196900
1946-1956
designer
Simpson, Adele
Simpson, Adele
ID Number
CS.310259.005
catalog number
310259.005
accession number
310259
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1745 - 1769
ID Number
CS.006611
catalog number
006611
accession number
28810
This dress, designed by the House of Worth, was worn by Alice Jane Earl Stuart, who was born in Lafayette, Indiana on October 23, 1850 to Adams Earl and Martha Jane Hawkins.
Description
This dress, designed by the House of Worth, was worn by Alice Jane Earl Stuart, who was born in Lafayette, Indiana on October 23, 1850 to Adams Earl and Martha Jane Hawkins. Her father was a wealthy man and very important in the history and development of Lafayette, becoming president of the Lafayette and Chicago Railroad Company. At age 17, Alice left home to attend the Rockland Female Institute in Nyack, New York. On December 20, 1876, she married Charles Benedict Stuart, who became the founder of the Stuart law firm in Lafayette, Indiana. Their only child died at birth. The Stuarts were very wealthy as well, and Alice was one of the most prominent women of Lafayette and Tippecanoe County, working for many organizations of social welfare and improvement.
From surviving letters Alice wrote to her parents from school, she mentioned how important clothing was to her. As evidenced by this Worth dress, Alice was said to have a preoccupation with stylish apparel. Alice visited a cousin in Washington, DC on several occasions and attended a reception at the White House on one trip. She also traveled abroad many times, and it was probably during one of these trips that she had this dress made to order from the House of Worth, which was famous for creating beautiful gowns such as this one. Charles Frederick Worth was notable for his use of lavish fabrics and trimmings, and his son Jean-Phillippe, who followed the same aesthetics as his father, may have designed this dress. Alice Earl Stuart died on July 27, 1937 at Earlhurst, her family home in Lafayette. Although Earlhurst has not survived, this portrait of a young Alice Jane Earl Stuart is in the hands of a local doctor who owns the land that belonged to the Earls.
The House of Worth, which was the longest running fashion dynasty and the arbiter of women’s fashions for more than a century, was founded by Charles Frederick Worth, who was born in Lincolnshire, England on October 13, 1824. As a young man, Worth worked as an apprentice and clerk for two textile merchants. He relocated to Paris in 1845, and in 1858 he co-established his own dressmaking salon, Maison Worth at 7 rue de la Paix, Paris. Although his sons, Gaston-Lucien and Jean-Philippe, took over their father’s business after his death on March 10, 1895, they had been an indispensable part of the House of Worth long before he died. In 1954, the couture house was sold to Pacquin, and the name continued until the 1970s. Parfums Worth, which was created in the early twentieth century, is still in business. Besides dressing royalty and famous actresses, Worth was immensely popular among wealthy American patrons.
This elegant two-piece dress is constructed of pink satin and brocaded silk. The bodice of pink silk satin has a square neckline in front that is rounded at the back. The center front portion of the bodice is covered with pink chiffon, and four pleated chiffon ruffles with a lace ruffle inserted between two of them frame the neckline in front and extend down to the center front of the bodice. Additional ruffles are inserted at the back neckline to form a multi-layered ruffled collar effect. Reveres are cut in one piece with the bodice fronts using the fabric selvedge as the reveres edge. The reveres, similar to lapels, are covered with net and lace appliqué with decorative rhinestones. The bodice has side seams and is cut in three parts at the back. The back is covered with the same lace as the reveres. The short satin sleeves that are lined with pink satin are extremely full and pleated into the armholes with fullness at the top of the sleeve created by elaborate folding of the fabric. The sleeve openings are trimmed with three pleated chiffon ruffles tacked to the sleeves at intervals to form a decorative trim. A wide ruche of pink velvet lined with pink taffeta forms a cummerbund effect at the lower edge of the bodice closing at the left front. Two decorative velvet bows trim the closure. All inside bodice seams are finished and boned, with additional boning at the center front and either side of the center front. The center front of the bodice closes with metal hooks and eyes. This pictured label with the words “PARIS C Worth PARIS” is woven into an inner waistband tacked to the inside boning at the back waistline. The gored skirt of brocaded silk satin is slightly trained at the back, with box pleats creating fullness at the center back. A back opening closes with a large hook-and-eye. The skirt is completely lined with pink taffeta with a stiff interlining and an additional partial pink taffeta lining that is narrower than the skirt and tacked to the seams. A pink dust ruffle finishes the hemline.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1893 - 1901
1893-1901
maker
Worth
used by
Stuart, Alice Jane Earl
maker
Worth
ID Number
CS.264090.001
catalog number
264090.001
Three individual pieces comprise this sacque or sack dress – an opened-front dress with the trademark box-pleats dropping from the back with a matching petticoat and a stomacher.
Description
Three individual pieces comprise this sacque or sack dress – an opened-front dress with the trademark box-pleats dropping from the back with a matching petticoat and a stomacher. The stomacher is a removable, decorative panel that fills in the v-shaped void that extends from the chest to the waist in the front of a gown. Mrs. Eliza Lucas Pinckney, the original owner, was the wife of Col. Chief Justice Charles Pinckney and the mother of two Revolutionary War veterans who became important early American politicians. According to historical records, the silk for this gown, and two others, was made from silkworms raised on the Pinckney plantation near Charleston, SC.
The practice of sericulture, or the rearing of silkworms, gained renewed interest in the American colonies during the early to mid 18th century. Plantation owners first in Georgia and later South Carolina planted mulberry trees to accommodate the Asian imported silkworms. Sericulture was never profitable enough to overtake cotton as a viable textile crop in the American south. However, Mrs. Pinckney was a trailblazer in colonial agriculture actively supporting the cultivation of both indigo and silk in her region.
The silk thread, produced in Charleston under the supervision of Mrs. Pinckney, was then exported to England to be woven into damask dress fabric in Spitalfields, an area of London renowned for its weaving industry. One dress was said to have been gifted to Princess Augusta, the Dowager Princess of Wales (mother of the future George III) and the other to Lord Chesterfield, a friend of the Colonies.
In the late 1920s, this dress was altered considerably so that it could to be worn as a wedding dress by a member of the Pinckney family.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1750 - 1780
owned by
Pinckney, Eliza Lucas
maker
Pinckney, Eliza Lucas
ID Number
2008.0002.001
catalog number
2008.0002.001
accession number
2008.0002
This exotic Eastern-influenced dress was designed by Callot Soeurs, a popular Parisian fashion house.The dress was worn by Mrs.
Description
This exotic Eastern-influenced dress was designed by Callot Soeurs, a popular Parisian fashion house.
The dress was worn by Mrs. Florence Sheffield Keep, a prominent Washingtonian whose busy social schedule and contacts within the diplomatic community were often noted in the Washington, DC and New York City newspapers. It is possible that this dress was worn to a diplomatic event in Washington, DC.
Callot Soeurs opened in 1895 at 24, rue Taibout in Paris, France. It was founded and operated by four sisters: Marie Callot Gerber, Marthe Callot Bertrand, Regina Callot Tennyson-Chantrell, and Josephine Callot Crimont with Marie being the head designer. Coming from an artistic family, their mother was a lace maker and their father a painter and teacher of design. Before opening the salon, the sisters first worked with antique laces and ribbons to adorn blouses and lingerie. They later expanded into other clothing to include daywear, tailored suits, and evening dresses being best known for their eighteenth century inspired dishabille and their exotic evening dress influenced by the East. In 1914, the design house moved to grander quarters at 9-11, avenue Matignon, and they became involved in Le syndicat de defense de la grande couture francaise. Through this organization Callot Soeurs along with designers Paul Poiret, Jacques Worth, Jeanne Paquin, Madeleine Cheruit, Paul Rodier, and Bianchini and Ferier, put in place controls to protect their original designs from copy houses that sold them to ready-to-wear manufacturers without their permission. This is the time when the Callot Soeurs began to date their labels.
As evident with the design of this dress of bright orange color, gold lace, and elaborate trim, in the 1920’s, Callot Soeurs used brilliant and rich fauvist colors and Eastern inspired designs with exotic details in their formal evening wear. Along with other designers such as Paul Poiret, they were strongly influenced by the wave of orientalism in fashion and the arts. It was during this period that Callot Soeurs became one of the leading fashion houses in Paris, serving exclusive clientele from Europe and the United States. In 1928, Pierre Gerber, Marie Callot Gerber’s son took over the business and moved it to 41, avenue Montaigne. It remained there until Marie retired in 1937. It was at this time that the House of Callot Soeurs closed and was absorbed into the House of Calvert.
This dress is constructed of bright orange silk chiffon with a lining of off-white satin. Gold metallic lace trim and elaborate decorative motifs of beading and iridescent sequins decorate entire dress. The bodice section forms a deep V at front and back with the under bodice lining covered with net forming an insert at center front. Bands of lace and decorated chiffon form diagonal straps at front with at a criss-cross pattern at back. A large decorative diamond-shape emblem of pearls, green and blue beads, and glass stones at corners and center are attached at lower edge of bodice front insert. Five pearl tassels extend from lower edge of the emblem. Horizontal bands of two-inch wide gold metallic lace centered with a band of beaded orange chiffon are set in at the mid-section of the dress. Long tails of chiffon decorated all over with beading and sequins are shirred at the shoulders forming a flowing sleeve-like appearance. The decorated orange chiffon skirt section has an inverted V insert of two-inch gold metallic lace at front which extends into a horizontal band at back. A scalloped pattern at the lower edge has an insert of gold metallic lace. A label woven into a waistband at inside lining reads: “Hiver 1922-1923, Callot Soeurs, Paris, Nouvelle Marque Deposee”.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1922-1923
used by
Keep, Florence Sheffield Boardman
maker
Callot Soeurs
Callot Soeurs
ID Number
CS.057028
catalog number
57028
accession number
202244
There is no information as to who wore this dress.Cotton dresses such as this one were often advertised at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century as “wash dresses,” as they were easily laundered.
Description
There is no information as to who wore this dress.
Cotton dresses such as this one were often advertised at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century as “wash dresses,” as they were easily laundered. While this dress could have been ready-made, most likely it was made at home. Although it is relatively simple in construction, the maker took care to add decorative details such as the bias appliqués and the self-covered buttons, neither of which served any structural need but simply made the dress more stylish. The dress is shown with a cotton apron that was typical for the period and the kind of apron that a woman might have worn for doing light household tasks.
This one-piece dress is constructed of a black and white plaid cotton. The bodice has a high stand collar trimmed with a band of embroidered white cotton that closes with three pearl buttons. The center front opening in the bodice has twelve pearl buttons on the right side and worked buttonholes on the left side. Tucks in the bodice at center front run from the neckline to the waistline, and tucks starting at the shoulders release part way down into the bodice front. The bodice back has shirring at the waist to control the fullness with a bias strip, trimmed with four self-covered buttons, applied vertically at the center back. A cummerbund effect is created at the waist with a wide bias band that is attached to the skirt but loose from the bodice at the upper edge. The lightly boned waistband closes with two pearl buttons. The long, narrow sleeves have the fullness controlled at the wrists by tucks. A self-bias band is applied to the outer portion of the sleeves, which come to a point at the lower edge and are trimmed with two self-covered buttons. The wrist openings of the sleeves are edged with embroidered white cotton. The skirt section has a center front placket opening with eight hooks-and-eyes for closure. Tucks extend from the waist, releasing at the lower hip area. Two bias bands are applied at the lower skirt with a fold over hem. The dress is unlined, and the seam edges are raw on the inside.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1900-1905
maker
unknown
ID Number
1986.0202.11
accession number
1986.0202
catalog number
1986.0202.11
This dress was worn by Sallie Mason Faulkner in Christian County, Kentucky. Born Sallie Coleman Mason on July 28, 1847, she married Ephraim James Faulkner on December 9, 1862 when she was just fifteen. Mr.
Description
This dress was worn by Sallie Mason Faulkner in Christian County, Kentucky. Born Sallie Coleman Mason on July 28, 1847, she married Ephraim James Faulkner on December 9, 1862 when she was just fifteen. Mr. Faulkner, who was a farmer, came from a neighboring county but purchased land in Christian County in the 1860s. Mrs. Faulkner died in 1868, six years after they were married. According to family tradition, this was the dress she wore the day she died. We do not know the cause of her death. She had four children, one of whom died in infancy. Their granddaughters donated this dress to the museum. At the time of the donation, the donors stated that Ephraim had served in the Federal (Union) Army during the Civil War. Their other grandfather (maternal) had served in the Confederacy. This would not have been unusual, as Kentucky was divided over the issue of slavery. However, to date we have been unable to track down Ephraim's service records on either side of the conflict.
Based on its construction, this dress would have been considered a "work" dress. Most work dresses of the mid-nineteenth century have an inset waistband, fuller sleeves, and a bodice cut with a looser fit than more stylish dresses. However, this dress includes decorative trimming. As we learn more about the family’s economic circumstances, we might be able to ascertain whether this was an everyday dress of a woman from a substantial farm family or a "best" dress of a less affluent farm woman.
This one-piece dress is constructed from a printed cotton calico that has a brown ground with an abstract design in beige, red, and cream. The unlined bodice section has a slightly V-neckline edged with piping. A center front opening has six worked buttonholes on the left side and dark gray buttons on the right side, and is trimmed with a narrow white braid to create a placket effect. The inset waistband is piped at the bottom edge and is lined with a napped fabric. The bodice front is gathered into the waistband at either side of the center front, and the bodice back is cut in one piece and gathered into the waistband at the center back. The front of the bodice extends slightly into the back at the shoulders and the side seams. The long sleeves are gathered into the armholes with piping. The sleeves are also gathered to wristbands that are trimmed with the same narrow white braid as the center front. The wristbands fasten with a worked buttonhole at the wrist closure. The skirt section is narrowly gathered and attached to the waistband with the upper raw edge of the skirt concealed between the waistband and the lining. Two metal hooks-and-eyes form the skirt section closure at the center front waistband. The hem is faced with coarse brown cotton. The waist measures 27 inches.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1862 - 1868
1862-1868
user
Faulkner, Sallie Mason
maker
unknown
ID Number
CS.306799.001
catalog number
306799.001
accession number
306799
Men had been wearing waist-length vests that highlighted their chins and necks for several decades before this garment was worn somewhere in New England around 1815.
Description
Men had been wearing waist-length vests that highlighted their chins and necks for several decades before this garment was worn somewhere in New England around 1815. However, in spite of its short length and standing collar, the vest shown here was designed to shift attention downward, toward its wearer's chest and waist. It featured a very slight point at the waist, which was a new idea in the mid-1810s. The small, closely set buttons pointed to the beaked waist, as did the collar, which was lower and more angled than it would have been a few years earlier. Horizontal stripes made the chest look broader, and wide lacing tabs on the back of the vest would also have helped its wearer to achieve the new cinched-waist look that had replaced the previous, very vertical silhouette. A fashionable man would have enhanced the illusion of an hourglass figure by matching his vest with full-hipped trousers and a coat with high rolled collar and full sleeves. He might even have worn it with a second vest of a contrasting color and collar style, thus giving even more fullness and focus to his chest.
This high-collared, off-white silk vest is woven in a textured, tone-on-tone repeat pattern of narrow horizontal lines alternating with bands of tiny zigzags. The step-stand collar is slightly higher in back than it is in the front. The center front fastens with eight small, flat, self-covered buttons. Two pocket welts with flared inner edges, one on each vest front, extend from the side seams toward the center front. The vest is waist-length, with a slight point at the center-front base. The center fronts and waist hems are self-faced, and the vest is fully lined and backed with white cotton. The back hem is cut straight. One lacing tab with a vertical row of four worked eyelets is sewn at each side of the back waist. The center back length is 19 in. (48.26 cm), not including the back collar height of 2.2 in. (5.6 cm).
To see a similar vest as it would have been worn, link to the portrait of Robert Coleman, about 1820, by Jacob Eichholtz at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. To see how one cartoonist mocked the hourglass silhouette that was fashionable for men, link to Songs [Ye Gentlemen of England], 1822, by H. Alken at The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.
This Web entry was made possible in part by a generous grant from the National Association of Men’s Sportswear Buyers, in memory of Joseph S. Klein.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1815-1820
maker
unknown
ID Number
1998.0200.07
accession number
1998.0200
This elaborate summer dress was worn by Mary Louisa Adams Johnson, a granddaughter of President John Quincy Adams and a great-granddaughter of President John Adams. Mary Louisa was born at the White House in Washington, D. C. on December 2, 1828.
Description
This elaborate summer dress was worn by Mary Louisa Adams Johnson, a granddaughter of President John Quincy Adams and a great-granddaughter of President John Adams. Mary Louisa was born at the White House in Washington, D. C. on December 2, 1828. On June 30, 1853 she married her second cousin, William Clarkson Johnson of New York. She was his second wife. They had two children, Louisa Catherine Adams Johnson (who later married Erskine Clement), born in 1856, and John Quincy Adams Johnson, born February 12, 1859. She died at Far Rockaway, Long Island, New York on July 16, 1859, just a few months after her son's birth. It is possible that Mrs. Johnson may have had the opportunity to wear this dress only a few times before her death.
This dress with its cutting of the printed fabric to create the overall effect was clearly made by a skilled dressmaker. Since labels were not incorporated into dresses at this date, we will never know the name of the woman who made it. Silk gauze dresses of this sort were extremely popular for summer wear in the 1850s as evidenced by the number of them that are depicted in fashion plates, the hand colored fashion illustrations that were inserted into women's magazines. Because of the fragility of the open weave of the fabric, most existing examples are in poor condition. Buckram underskirts, which created the fashionable bell skirt silhouette, also abraded the gauze, causing additional damage. This example is in relatively good condition, with only a few tears in the skirt.
This two-piece dress is constructed of white silk gauze in a woven pattern with a printed small paisley design, predominantly red and blue at the top portion of the dress with medallions and flowers in browns and reds at the lower portion. The fabric has been cut and stitched to use the pattern to advantage in the dress. The bodice is made of a white cotton body covered with the paisley printed fabric. It has a round neck edged with corded piping. The center front opening is closed from waist to neck with twelve hidden metal hooks-and-eyes, with the front of the opening decorated with five silk tassels. The bodice has two boned darts on either side of the center front and a center back piece boned in the center with two smaller pieces on either side. A peplum is formed of separate pieces of gauze in a medallion design sewn to the body of the dress at the waist. The peplum is pointed at the center front, the center back, and the sides and is trimmed at the bottom edge with pink ribbon with chenille button fringe. The bell sleeves are lined in the upper portion with cotton, and the paisley printed fabric is pleated to fit the sleeve linings at the upper portion. The lower portions of the sleeves are constructed of the medallion print. Some pleats on upper sleeves and sleeve openings are trimmed with the same silk and chenille ribbon as the peplum. Tassels are attached at the points of the sleeve openings, and the same piping that edges the neckline is inserted in the seams of the armholes. The skirt consists of separate sections of buckram and gauze pleated and attached together to a narrow buckram waistband with a large metal hook-and-eye closure at the opening. The buckram skirt section has a narrow fold over hem, and the gauze skirt section has a partial overskirt that forms a flounce. The lower edge of the flounce and the gauze skirt section are trimmed with silk and chenille ribbon. The waist measures 20 inches.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1855 - 1865
1855-1865
used by
Johnson, Mary Louisa Adams
maker
unknown
ID Number
CS.053830
catalog number
053830
accession number
187487
This dress, designed by Jeanne Lanvin, was worn by Marjorie Wilder, who may have been known as Martha as a child. She was born, we believe, in 1891, in Kentucky to Amanda and Wilson Wilder. Information about her life is sketchy, but around 1910 or 1911 she married Edward A.
Description
This dress, designed by Jeanne Lanvin, was worn by Marjorie Wilder, who may have been known as Martha as a child. She was born, we believe, in 1891, in Kentucky to Amanda and Wilson Wilder. Information about her life is sketchy, but around 1910 or 1911 she married Edward A. English of Atlanta, Georgia. Unfortunately, that marriage lasted only a short time, as Mr. English died within a few years of their marriage. It was, however, around the time of their marriage that this dress was made. According to the donor, who was an old friend, Mrs. English wore the dress to a garden party at the American Embassy in London in 1911. This corresponds with the 1911 date written on the label. We speculate that the trip to Paris and London may have been a wedding trip for the newlyweds, but to date, we have been unable to find any documentation to confirm this speculation. The style of the dress, with its youthful appearance, would have been appropriate for a new, young bride. Later, Marjorie moved to New York City, where she married James Cunningham and became part of the social set. According to articles in the New York Times, she made several trips to Europe during this marriage. After the marriage ended in divorce, she married a third time in 1943 to I. Henry Walker, who died a few months later. According to the donor, Marjorie died in 1953 in a boating accident.
Jeanne Lanvin was born in Paris, France in 1867. She began her fashion career, which lasted over fifty years, as a milliner, opening her own establishment in Paris in 1889. Her daughter inspired her to branch out into making children's clothing, and she began selling matching mother and daughter garments. As those children became adults, her styles evolved to include wedding and evening gowns that would appeal to youthful women as well as more mature women. Before World War I, Lanvin created her famous "robes des style” which was based on eighteenth-century designs. These full skirted dresses with waists remained popular into the early 1920s. By 1925, she was frequently featured in Vogue with both text and illustrations. She preferred clear, subtle and feminine colors, especially a shade of blue that became known as “Lanvin blue.” The use of cummerbunds and net openings with piping, which were both used in this dress, were indicative of her feminine and youthful designs of the early twentieth century.
This one-piece "robes de style" dress is constructed of green silk taffeta. A cape-like collar of net with a pleated taffeta ruffle applied in a swag pattern with loops of bias piping between ruffles is attached to a low, round neckline edged with narrow bias piping. The bodice is gathered to the waist and the yoke at the front and the back with piping at the lower edge. A center back opening has a hook-and-eye closure at the neck. Barrel shaped buttons, covered with bias piping, extend from part way down the back to just above the waist and from below the waist into the skirt section with bias piping loops on the right side of the back for closure. A cummerbund style waistband is quilted and applied to the dress just above the waist fastening at the center back with three barrel shape buttons and loops. Elbow-length sleeves have fullness at the armholes that is controlled with pleats. Shirring at the elbow of the sleeves is covered with cuffs of the same construction as the collar. The skirt section is gathered at the waist. The lower portion of the skirt is also made of the same construction as the collar. An attached petticoat of white chiffon has a band of green taffeta at the lower portion that is visible beneath the net of the skirt. The dress is unlined, with a wide, heavy grosgrain band attached to the waist on the inside extending above and below the waist. All seams are hand finished. The label, which reads "Jeanne Lanvin Paris" and "Ae 1911," is sewn to the inside of the waistband. The waist measures 26 ½ inches.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1916 - 1918
1911
maker
Lanvin, Jeanne
wearer
Walker, Marjorie Wilder English Cunningham
maker
Lanvin, Jeanne
ID Number
CS.293275.001
catalog number
293275.001
accession number
293275
This evening dress was created by internationally renowned designer Oscar de la Renta in the fall of 2002 for the House of Balmain.Oscar de la Renta, born in 1932, was the son of a Dominican Republic insurance agent. He received his education in Santo Domingo and in Madrid.
Description
This evening dress was created by internationally renowned designer Oscar de la Renta in the fall of 2002 for the House of Balmain.
Oscar de la Renta, born in 1932, was the son of a Dominican Republic insurance agent. He received his education in Santo Domingo and in Madrid. While studying to become a painter, he began sketching for leading Spanish fashion houses to help pay for his studies. He first thought seriously about a career in fashion when he designed a debutante gown for the daughter of the U.S. Ambassador to Spain, John Cabot Lodge. Soon after a photograph of the dress appeared in Life magazine, he was given his first professional job at Eisa, Balenciaga’s couture house in Madrid. In 1961, de la Renta was hired by Antonio del Castillo as an assistant at the Lanvin-Castillo couture house in Paris. He moved to New York to design for the custom-made collection at Elizabeth Arden in 1963, and in 1965 he joined the wholesale house of Jane Derby and became a partner in the business. After Derby retired in 1967, de la Renta changed the name of the company to his own ready-to-wear label, producing feminine, romantic, and dramatic evening clothes as well as accessories and fragrances for both men and women.
In 1993, de la Renta was hired by the House of Balmain to design their couture collection. He was the first American designer since Mainbocher to design couture in Paris, France. De la Renta worked at Balmain for ten years while also running his own company in the United States. In 2002, this dress, which was from the final collection designed by Oscar de la Renta for the House of Balmain, was shown on the fashion runway in Paris and then worn by Lee Radziwell, Jacqueline Kennedy’s sister, to the American Friends of Versailles event at the United Nations in September of 2002. It was also loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Arts Costume Institute for their exhibition “Goddess the Classical Mode” in 2003 before being donated to the Smithsonian in the fall of 2003 during a presentation called “An Evening with Oscar de la Renta.”
This two-piece dress is constructed of gilt cock feathers attached to a silk top and a gold lame skirt. The top is sleeveless with a wide bateau neckline formed with a band of small hand-clipped overlapping feathers horizontally placed from shoulder to shoulder, meeting at the center front and back. The remainder of the top is covered with small feathers vertically overlapping in graduated rows that end in three rows of larger feathers from the waist to the hip area. There is a center back nylon zipper opening with a hook-and-eye closure. The back and bust darts shape the fit of the top with a gold China silk lining. The skirt is a column of crimped and pleated silk lame that hangs straight at the sides, ending in a lettuce-edged bottom. An invisible left side zipper opening ends with a hook-and-eye closure at the waistline. A gold China silk fabric partially lines the skirt. A Balmain/Paris label is sewn to the inside lining at the left back neckline. The dress measures 19 1/8" at the center back of the top, 43 1/4" at the center back of the skirt, and 26" at the waistline of the skirt.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
2002
costume nmah
National Museum of American History. Division of Social History
designer
de la Renta, Oscar
used by
Radziwill, Lee
maker
Balmain, Pierre
ID Number
2003.0274.002
accession number
2003.0274
catalog number
2003.0274.002
According to the family, it is most likely that this dress belonged to Adeline Barr Miller. Adeline was one of four daughters of Oliver Barr and Melinda Griffin.
Description
According to the family, it is most likely that this dress belonged to Adeline Barr Miller. Adeline was one of four daughters of Oliver Barr and Melinda Griffin. While the parents spent their early years in Pennsylvania, by the 1840s they were living in Aurora, Illinois, where all four daughters were married. The Reverend Oliver Barr was a leading minister in the Christian Church and an early supporter of the founding of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He was killed in a train accident five months before the college opened.
This dress is particularly interesting in its use of the stripes in the fabric to emphasize the long-waisted silhouette fashionable in the period. Because differing fabrics were used for reinforcement and facings (perhaps scraps remaining from other projects), the dress was probably made at home by a member of the family. The seamstress who made the dress was semi-skilled. She knew how to cut the fabric using the design to emphasize the fashionable silhouette. However, the way the fan is controlled at the shoulders is not particularly well done, and the piping at the neck is not done in a standard manner. It may be that someone who was more skilled cut the fabric and someone less skilled sewed the garment.
This one-piece dress is constructed from printed cotton in a floral pattern with stripes of red flowers and brown leaves on a cream ground alternating with red flowers in the center of brown leaves outlined in cream on a brown ground. There is a slightly dropped round neckline in the front and a round neckline in the back of the bodice with bias piping at the neckline. A fan front in the bodice is created using stripes in the fabric vertically with pleats radiating out and releasing near the shoulders and then gathering into the side back shoulder seams. The side front bodice pieces are cut with stripes on the horizontal. The bodice forms a slight “V” waist in front and is straight in the back with piping in the waistline seam. The back of the bodice has one piece on either side of the center back with a center back opening that overlaps slightly to cover a thirteen hook-and-eye closure extending from the neck to the waist. The inside of the opening is reinforced under the hooks-and-eyes with an applied band of cream colored cotton printed in blue and brown. Long, narrow sleeves open at the inside seam at the wrist opening. The skirt section is narrowly pleated to the bodice, and the skirt hem is faced with dark blue cotton with a small white geometric print. The bodice is lined with natural colored cotton.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1842-1850
user
Miller, Adeline Barr
maker
unknown
ID Number
CS.321800.001
catalog number
321800.001
accession number
321800
There is no information as to who wore this dress designed by Geoffrey Beene.Geoffrey Beene, born on August 30, 1927, was a native of Haynesville, Louisiana.
Description
There is no information as to who wore this dress designed by Geoffrey Beene.
Geoffrey Beene, born on August 30, 1927, was a native of Haynesville, Louisiana. He spent three years in medical school at Tulane University before moving to California to pursue his interest in fashion design. He attended New York’s Traphagen School of Design and moved to Paris to study French couture techniques. When he returned to New York in 1951, he worked for a number of fashion houses. In 1954, he was hired by Teal Traina, and he remained there until he left to open his own company, Geoffrey Beene, Inc. in 1963. Beene offered custom designs and high quality ready-to-wear clothing for the mass market and later perfumes and menswear. His clientele included first ladies, movie stars, and fashion conscious women. Over his long career, he received many fashion accolades, including eight prized Coty Awards.
A leader in American fashion design until his death on September 28, 2004, Geoffrey Beene was famous for his use of luxurious fabrics, fine workmanship, and originality. The quality of his work rivaled the best of the French fashion houses, while adding freedom of movement, comfort, and fit to his designs. He became known as an innovator in women’s sportswear. In 1967, he created this sequined football jersey dress, which was one of a series of dresses inspired by athletic jerseys. This particular dress brought active American sports clothing into the realm of evening wear. Several of his other designs, including the flag sweatshirt, are in the Smithsonian collections.
This one-piece evening dress is cut straight at the sides with a slight flare at the lower edge. The entire body of the dress is covered in vertical rows of overlapping dark purple sequins except for alternating horizontal bands of gold, white, and purple sequins on the upper sleeves and the number “74," 7 3/4 inches high, formed by vertical rows of white sequins at the upper front and back. The positioning and color of the sequins creates the effect of an elongated football jersey. The dress has long, straight set-in sleeves that taper at the ends with 3 ½ inch slit openings that fasten with three fabric covered snaps. A high round neckline drops lower in front, and a band effect is created around the neckline with a horizontal placement of five rows of purple sequins. A zipper opening at the center back extends 20 ½ inches, with a hook and eye closure at the neckline. The dress is fully lined with purple silk. A Geoffrey Beene fabric label with black ground and white lettering is sewn vertically to the inside lining left of the zipper opening at the upper back. The dress measures 57 ½ inches at the center back.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1967
designer
Beene, Geoffrey
maker
Beene, Geoffrey
ID Number
CS.310259.018
catalog number
310259.018
accession number
310259
Mrs. Bertrand Cohn purchased this "Delphos" dress in Paris in 1936. When she returned to New York, she wore it to the Metropolitan Opera with silver shoes and a diamond necklace.
Description
Mrs. Bertrand Cohn purchased this "Delphos" dress in Paris in 1936. When she returned to New York, she wore it to the Metropolitan Opera with silver shoes and a diamond necklace. She later donated the dress to the Smithsonian.
The designer, Mariano Fortuny, was born in Granada, Spain, in 1871 to a family of artists. After his father’s death in 1874, the Fortunys lived in Paris and Spain and eventually settled in Venice, Italy. Inspired by his surroundings and encouraged by his family, Mariano became a painter. Fortuny's artistic interest covered a range of creative endeavors, from sculpture, photography, and interior design to stage and set design and stage lighting. His interest in dyes and chemistry led him to textile and costume design, for which he is best known today.
Influenced by Orientalism and neoclassicism, Fortuny created lush and decorative fabrics. Using a mixture of hand and screen printing to decorate the fabrics allowed him the freedom to experiment and design. His most famous design was the "Delphos," a classic pleated tea gown he began making around 1907 and continued until his death. Named after a Greek classical sculpture, the Delphos dress was a simple column of vertical pleats permanently set in silk by a process never successfully duplicated. Fortuny considered his dress concepts to be inventions, and in 1909 he patented the pleating process and the machine he invented and copy-righted the design of the dress. These dresses were meant to be stored by rolling them lengthwise, twisting them into a ball and placing them in an oval miniature hat box (we have the one that came with this dress), thus preserving the pleats and keeping the shape of the dress.
Avant-garde American dancers Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis wore Fortunys because of their interest in the body and movement. Originally made to be worn as teas gowns for entertaining at home, the gowns were seen outside the home by the 1930s.
This two-piece tubular cut tea gown is constructed of a finely pleated rose-colored silk. It is full length with openings at the side seams to form armholes. The wide scoop neckline has a drawstring encased along the inside edge, and there are two rows of stitching on either side of the shoulder seams. Silk cording evenly threaded with yellow glass beads with black and red stripes is stitched along the side seams and the armhole edges. The separate belt is made of rose-colored silk painted with a silver metallic pattern of trailing oak leaves and dots.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1936
user
Mrs. Bertrand W. Cohn
designer
Fortuny, Mariano
ID Number
CS.322625.002
catalog number
322625.002
accession number
322625
322625
We do not know the name of the woman who wore this dress. Family tradition holds that it was worn by a member of the donor's family to the 1876 Centennial Exposition, which was America's 100th birthday party celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Description
We do not know the name of the woman who wore this dress. Family tradition holds that it was worn by a member of the donor's family to the 1876 Centennial Exposition, which was America's 100th birthday party celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Americans and foreign visitors traveled to Fairmont Park in Philadelphia to explore fifty acres of astonishing displays of the newest, the biggest, and the best of everything available, including the innovative Women’s Pavilion.
This dress may have been called a promenade gown. The slender look was emphasized by contrasting blue silk taffeta and navy blue velvet. The dress required more than fifteen yards of machine sewing and more than forty-five yards of skilled hand stitching. The round, gold-colored buttons used to close the center front and trim the lower bodice back, as well as the shape of the sleeves, were inspired by men's and women's clothing of the eighteenth century. The sturdy fabric added to the bottom of the skirt to protect the underside of the train does not show as much wear as the mohair braid edging its tip, suggesting that the wearer managed her train skillfully as she strolled around.
This two-piece bustle dress is constructed of medium blue silk and dark blue velvet. The boned, fitted medium blue silk bodice extends below the waist with no seam at the waistline. The dark blue stand collar and insert at the center front are edged with silk bias piping. The center front closure consists of eighteen metal buttons on the left side and worked buttonholes on the right side. The blue velvet at the center back comes to a point, extending into a decorative peplum with button trim. The sleeves are of a two-part construction of medium blue silk and dark blue velvet, with silk ruffles edged with lace at wrists. The skirt of medium blue silk has a dark blue velvet mid-front and hem panel and is cut straight at the front with pleats at the center back. The skirt is trained at the back with a draped bustle decorated with one dark blue bow at the left back. Fringe trims the velvet panel at the front. A brown glazed cotton lines the skirt, and the hem is stiffened.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1876
maker
unknown
ID Number
1984.0920.001
accession number
1984.0920
catalog number
1984.0920.001
This particular paper dress was known as a “Poster Dress,” being the invention of Harvey Gordon, an American artist who was living in England. He thought that paper could be treated as if it were cloth.
Description
This particular paper dress was known as a “Poster Dress,” being the invention of Harvey Gordon, an American artist who was living in England. He thought that paper could be treated as if it were cloth. When these dresses were introduced in the United States in 1968 they sold for $3.00. This dress was purchased and worn by Jean Stuart, wife of the donor, in Washington, D.C. She liked the idea of paper dresses and was particularly drawn to this one because the cat depicted in the design resembled her own cat. This cat dress was featured, along with some of the other Poster Dresses, in Life magazine on April 5, 1968.
The disposable dress was a short-lived phenomenon from about 1966 to 1968. It started when the Scott Paper Company came up with an idea to sell its paper towels by demonstrating that the paper was attractive enough to be worn. With a mail-in promotion in magazines, the company invited consumers in 1966 to send a coupon from a Scott product, along with $1.25, in order to receive a paper dress of either a black and white Op Art pattern or a red bandana print. The campaign became an overnight sensation, with over 500,000 dresses shipped. The demand for the dresses spurred other companies to develop new textures, finishes, and colorful prints. The big appeal for these dresses was their eye-catching patterns and images. People hosted paper parties in their home and for charity balls, which were called “paper balls.” Some wore disposable paper wedding dresses, bathing suits, jewelry, and underwear. By 1968, however, paper dresses lost their appeal. Wearers found them to be ill-fitting and uncomfortable, the painted surfaces were often unstable, and there were concerns about flammability. Most importantly, their novelty had worn off due to overexposure.
This one-piece paper dress is a black and ecru print of a blown-up cat photo. The image of the cat’s face is off center and covers most of the upper portion of the dress. The same photo is positioned on both the front and the back. The dress is a sleeveless A-line cut with a scooped neckline in the front and the back. It is constructed with shoulder and side seams and darts for fitting. The neckline, armholes, and bottom edge are left raw with no finishing. The dress measures 34 inches at the center back.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1968-1969
user
Stuart, Jean
maker
Poster Dress
ID Number
1996.0365.001
accession number
1996.0365
catalog number
1996.0365.001
The donor of this dress designed by Adrian was a fashion model during the 1920s and early 1930s, and she loved clothes. She purchased this dress at Garfinckels, which was a specialty store in Washington, D.C.
Description
The donor of this dress designed by Adrian was a fashion model during the 1920s and early 1930s, and she loved clothes. She purchased this dress at Garfinckels, which was a specialty store in Washington, D.C. When she donated the dress to the museum, she noted that it originally had a narrow belt constructed of the same fabric as the dress. She had used the belt as well as the shoulder pads with another dress at a later time.
Adrian was the best known Hollywood designer of the 1930s. He understood how films were made and designed his clothes accordingly. Knowing that close-ups would highlight the neck or bodice portion of an outfit, he often emphasized the upper portion of a garment. As head designer at MGM, his designs were featured in fashion and fan magazines and were also reinterpreted by many manufacturers. In 1942, Adrian decided to open his own commercial establishment in Beverly Hills, California. Instead of only offering couture clothing for the wealthy, he created a special line called “Adrian Original” to be sold ready-made in selected stores around the United States. To further enhance their cache, only one store was selected in each city to sell his designs.
This long length dress is constructed of black creped-back rayon fabric printed with large birds in yellow, red, and black. The bird at the bodice front is embroidered with red, black, and gold sequins. The short cap sleeves are cut in one with the bodice. There is a horizontal slit neck opening with a short center back opening that fastens with two self-covered buttons and loop closures. The skirt section is cut straight with a slit up the center front originating from the hemline. There is also a left side zipper opening.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1947-1949
used by
Rigsby, Jacqueline C.
maker
Adrian
purchased at
Garfinckel's
designer
Adrian
ID Number
1977.1154.001
accession number
1977.1154
catalog number
1977.1154.001
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1958
designer
Heim, Jacques
ID Number
2011.0229.04
catalog number
2011.0229.04
accession number
2011.0229
This three-piece silk suit, originally a dark plum color that has faded to a brownish hue, consists of a coat, waistcoat, and breeches.
Description
This three-piece silk suit, originally a dark plum color that has faded to a brownish hue, consists of a coat, waistcoat, and breeches. It belonged to a Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin, and is thought to have been made in France around 1778, the year the Treaty of Alliance between the United States and France was signed. Franklin, the American Minister to France from 1776 until 1785, was a key figure in Franco-American politics and often present at the court of King Louis XVI. This plain suit would have created a stark visual contrast between Franklin and those in the elaborate dress commonplace for the opulent French Court.
Benjamin Franklin was very aware of the messages that clothing could convey to others. He, as well as several other prominent Americans including Washington and Jefferson, was well versed in the fashion and textiles of the time. These educated men selected their wardrobe carefully as to match their social stature and political agendas. Franklin crafted his appearance knowing that it was a powerful visual symbol. This plain, but well-tailored, suit speaks to Franklin as a “simple republican.”
This suit represents one of only three hundred known Franklin artifacts still in existence. It symbolizes not only Franklin’s person style, but also his skill at using clothing as a way to communicate with others.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1778
associated person
Franklin, Benjamin
ID Number
2012.0187.001
catalog number
249722.001
accession number
2012.0187
This extraordinary waistcoat was found with an assortment of other eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century clothing in a curly maple tall chest of drawers that belonged to the Palmer family of Stonington, Connecticut.
Description
This extraordinary waistcoat was found with an assortment of other eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century clothing in a curly maple tall chest of drawers that belonged to the Palmer family of Stonington, Connecticut. There were several adult men in the family at that time, but detective work suggests that French and Indian War veteran Noyes Palmer (born 1732) may have worn this particular garment as well as eight of the other items that were packed away with it.
Made in the same size and dating from the same period, the assortment of nine coats, breeches, and waistcoats probably comprised his wardrobe when he died in 1783 at the age of 51. Mr. Palmer’s taste indicates that, like many middle-aged men, he was willing to combine a few new fashionable details with the older styles that he preferred. It is possible that he paired this linen waistcoat with a blue silk coat that was by far the grandest item that he owned.
During the last half of the eighteenth century, a quiet but real social war was brewing over the appropriate relationship between appearance and rank. Some people thought that a person’s clothing should reflect his or her status, while others insisted upon wearing the finest clothes that they could afford. It was even becoming technologically possible to flaunt cheaper knock-offs of fashionable goods, which were useful commodities in a world that was starting to define social position in terms of possessions rather than birth. This waistcoat, with its faux embroidery, is a supreme example of sartorial social-climbing.
Mr. Palmer may have bought his waistcoat as a flat length of linen on which the pieces were printed to form. If so, he would have had it tailored to fit him, with the adjustments made at the waist and the side seams in order to maintain the shape of the borders around the neck, front, and skirt edges. This was an established technique for elaborately embroidered or woven waistcoat panels, which were often made of silk and intended for formal wear. However, this waistcoat lacks waistline seams, suggesting that the borders may have been applied onto an existing piece. One way or another, the remarkable thing about this garment is that it mimics an expensive design convention in an extremely humble manner.
The waistcoat is made of natural-colored linen printed in brown, with a tiny repeat pattern of a horizontal line between two dots. A brown floral trail is printed over the ground pattern around the neck, center front, and skirt edges, as well as around the margins of the double-scalloped pocket flaps. An S-shaped vine is stamped horizontally at each button and buttonhole, and three vertical motifs graduated in size embellish each point of the pocket flap. The neck edge is bound with a narrow strip of the ground print, and the twelve flat buttons are covered with it.
The waistcoat is cut with a hem that angles upward from the spread front points toward the side vents. The center front and hem edges are faced with plain off-white linen and the back is made from a single thickness of the same plain linen. The center back seam is vented at the lower edge. This waistcoat is in extremely fragile condition because its fabric was printed with a combination of natural dye and mordant—a substance that reacts chemically with the dye to make it permanent—that has eaten the fabric wherever it was heavily applied. Each forepart is 29 in. (73.66 cm) long and 11 in. (27.94 cm) wide at the waist. The entire back is 27-1/4 in. (69.215 cm) long and 10 in. (25.4 cm) wide across the waist.
This Web entry was made possible in part by a generous grant from the National Association of Men’s Sportswear Buyers, in memory of Joseph S. Klein.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1770-1783
wearer
Palmer, Noyes
purchased from
Ginsburg, Cora
maker
unknown
ID Number
1989.0428.007
accession number
1989.0428
According to family tradition, this dress was worn in 1799 when Sarah Pond, the daughter of Bartholew Pond, wed Hezekiah Cummings in New York State, probably in the Oneida area.
Description
According to family tradition, this dress was worn in 1799 when Sarah Pond, the daughter of Bartholew Pond, wed Hezekiah Cummings in New York State, probably in the Oneida area. The information about these people is sketchy, but the family believes that the dress was later given to Sarah's niece, through whose family it descended until it was donated to the Smithsonian Institution.
Although this dress with its bold colors would have been very striking when first worn, printed wool dresses like this one rarely survived due to their nature. Their loose weave did not contribute to long wear as evidenced by the many holes and snags in this dress, some of which were patched with additional fabric and others which were simply mended. Wherever the seams were not finished, the wool has unraveled over the years, especially at the waist.
The woman who made this dress was trying to do so in a period of great transition for women's clothing. While she understood some of the new techniques for construction, such as the skirt having both the front and back cut on the grain, she was less certain about how to cut the bodice and the sleeves. Many dresses from this period have long straight sleeves but, unlike this dress, are often cut on the bias for ease. Although she was also attempting to follow newer techniques for putting in the sleeves, she did not understand how to do it perfectly.
This empire style one-piece dress is constructed from an orange loose-weave twill wool. The fabric is printed allover with a small sprig pattern in black. The front neck edge is a modified U-shape with a higher neckline in the back. The neckline edge is bound with dark gray wool that ends at the back shoulder seams. There are no darts in the bodice front. The top and sides of the bodice front continue to the back, where they are applied with top stitching. A center back opening in the bodice extends into the skirt section with a drawstring closure at the back neck edge and the waist. The long, very narrow sleeves are cut in one piece with a slight fullness at the top of the sleeves. The armholes are shaped with gussets at the underarms for ease. The skirt front is cut on the straight of the grain, widening near the hemline. The skirt back is also cut straight with side insets to create fullness. A fold over hem has a tuck just above the lower edge. The bodice back, shoulders, and front sides are lined with natural colored linen. The waist measures 36 inches.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1799
user
Cummings, Sarah Pond
maker
unknown
ID Number
CS.293207.001
catalog number
293207.001
accession number
293207

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