Brown and Silver Plaid Striped Dress 1860's

From the Seller

A charming antique original 1860’s brown and silver plaid silk dress. The bodice  is trimmed with brown silk fringe.  The armsyes and waist are piped. The bodice is lined with cotton and has a hook and eye closure. The brown buttons are decorative.  The skirt is unlined except for a wide band of cotton at the edge of the hemline. The dress is in very good an sturdy condition.  There is some light age discoloration at the bend of the elbow on one sleeve , light underarm discoloration, a small period mend under one sleeve and two pea size holes in the skirt.  Bust 32 Waist 21 Skirt length 40 Width at hemline 160

From the Industrious Lady

The fake buttons with the hook and eye closure is a common closure treatment on earlier dresses. It is an interesting addition as that is an earlier practice while the dress is showing signs of being more late war with more fullness in the back. The fabric is a lovely vertical stripe with dark green windowpane motif overlaid on the stripes. The cotton strip sewn around the bottom could be there to act as a  hemguard but since this dress is silk, I'd be more willing to be that its function is to help the skirt drape right when worn. Skirts that do not have this tend to lay inconsistently in the area from where the hoop ends and the bottom of  skirt is.