Black Silk dress with Sleeve Jockey Bishop Sleeves

Antique 1860s Distressed Black Silk Gown Dress Civil War Era Victorian

Note from Me:

  There is a reason that I want to record these dresses. Because of items like this one. Its physical presence is fading, the years have taken its toll on its form and its days on this earth are numbered. Hopefully by keeping a digital record of these items, long after moths and decay have reclaimed this garment, future generations will still be able to learn from the images here. Preservation of knowledge is one of the purest of goals, and it takes things like this. Individuals willing to say this is important and we need to preserve it. So enjoy these images, learn, and pass it on.

From the Seller

An antique Victorian gown dating from the 1860s. 

Distressed Black Silk

Distressed antique condition

 Silk is torn, tattered, disintegration 

Cotton underlay is in good condition

One piece in glossy lightweight black silk dress 

The bodice is fitted  with a cotton under layer that fastens with hooks at centre front. 

At the front the silk is fan pleated from waist to shoulder, with a round piped neck and slightly curved 

The sleeves fasten with hooks. 

The full skirt is pleated in to the waist.

Hand sewn.

Measurements

Chest 17" (armpit to armpit)

Waist: 16" 

Length: 58"

Sleeve: 24"

From the Industrious Lady

One item of note is the use of a seam up the center of the garment, rather than the three piece back. This may have been done to keep from having to piece things together and to make the best use of the silk that was there. Also interesting to see the gathers on a silk dress. There is a common held belief among the fashion historian community that gathers were a utilitarian practice, used on fabrics that were more prone to fading such as cotton. This may also indicate that this dress was originally from an earlier period and remade to fit the styles of the 1860's. The sleeve jockey with a bishop sleev makes for a very lovely silhouette, and is seen more in early year wars, and more specifically fall of 1861 and spring/summer of 1862. 

Another noteworthy curiosity with this dress, the hook and eyes do not go all the way up the front of the bodice. It stops almost a third of the way from the top. Sheer dresses that are well fitted might not have any hook or eye, and simply close at the top with a broach or pin, but a silk dress like this should not use this technique. It does appear this was purposely done as the black applied strip on the hook side only goes as far up as the hooks do. Its also equivalent to a modern size 12, the original owner was not a skinny minnie in the slightest.