Afternoon dress
The popularity of black in the second half of the nineteenth century was stimulated by the introduction of chemical dyes of that color in the 1860s. While tasteful and timeless, black remained associated with death and the garb of the widow—a woman often imagined as dangerously independent and alluring. Appropriate for third-stage mourning, this black silk faille dress blurs the distinction between mourning and fashion, and its original use remains unknown. Cut with princess seams, the dress forms the tight, smooth fit over the hips that epitomized late 1870s fashions.
Artwork Details
- Title: Afternoon dress
- Date: 1876–78
- Culture: American
- Medium: silk
- Credit Line: Gift of Theodore Fischer Ells, 1975
- Object Number: 1975.227.4
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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Mme. Grapanche
1884–86
American
1860–65
American
ca. 1835
American
1835
American
1820–30
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