Dress

Dress
circa 1920-1930
White/Cream
Linen
44 in. (bust), 41 in. (waist), 44 in. (hip)
2015.01

Dropped waist dress with inset placket and applied tiers on the front. Boxy faggoting decoration on the front. Attached collar and fold-back cuffs also have faggoting designs. According to The Delineator, this kind of decoration was especially popular in 1921 (example 1). Three groups of four mother of pearl shank button decorations on the front, some of which have been replaced with synthetics. The center front inset placket can be opened with metal snaps on the garment’s left side. The fact that this dress opens in this manner suggests that it could have been designed as a maternity dress. This is further supported by the presence of another maternity dress in the Detroit Historical Society Historic Costume Collection that provides easy access in a similar manner.

-Coberly

Warp fibers at 40x

The horizontal bands in the fiber identify it as flax.

Weft fibers at 10x

The horizontal bands in the fiber identify it as flax.