Dress

Object/Artifact

-

Saco Museum

Name/Title

Dress

Entry/Object ID

2014.33.1

Description

Cotton day dress of roller-printed fabric with a brown foliate pattern. Dress closes in the front with a wide self-fabric overlay that extends over the top of the very full leg-of-mutton sleeve and is attached to the waistband all the way around except at the front. Waistline is slightly above the natural waistline with a self-fabric belt. Skirt has a relatively flat front with more of the fullness concentrated at the back. The skirt hem has a rouleax around its edge. The bodice is lined with linen. The front closes with a series of 8 hooks and eyes, one eye is now missing. The bottom 14” of the skirt is lined with linen. There is a 3/4” wide tuck in the hem approximately 4” from the bottom. The rouleaux is made of a roll of linen that is stitched to form the bottom edge of the hem. The top of the skirt at the front has a band of black and white printed fabric sewn onto it. The self-fabric belt is lined with buckram. The sleeve seams, which are located on the underside of the sleeve, are piped. The bottom of the sleeves are piped and the 1 1/2” ruffle is sewn on to it. The fabric has a striped pattern to the background. The darker stripe is more translucent, 1 1/2” wide. The lighter color stripe, of heavier weave, is an inch wide.

Made/Created

Date made

circa 1830 - circa 1840

Dimensions

Length

52-1/4 in

Dimension Notes

Fabric repeat: 7-1/2 in

Material

roller printed cotton

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

By the 1830s, the industrialization of the textile industry meant that printed cotton was no longer a luxury material. The pattern of brown leaves and tendrils on this fabric was roller-printed using an engraved metal cylinder. First introduced in the late 18th century, this process was much faster than hand-block printing, greatly reducing labor costs. By the early 1820s, roller printing was highly mechanized but it was still hard to print more than two or three colors at the same time. Consequently, most roller-printed materials had a limited color palette. This dress is typical of the style of the late 1820s. The sleeves are quite full; since the fabric is unlined, they were probably originally supported by down-filled pads attached at the shoulder. Beginning in the late 1820s and extending into the 1840s, it was deemed fashionable for women's shoulders to appear to slope downward triangularly for the neck. Full sleeves enhanced this illusion. The hem sports a rouleaux, a type of padded trim filled with lamb's wool that became popular in the early 1820s. The padded trim would have helped the skirt stand out from the body and balance the wide line of the shoulders.