Antique 1860s Satin or Silk Moire Ball Gown Bodice
Well you can't say our ancestors were not resourceful. This dress is homemade but very intelligently though not exactly kosher sewing methods used. There is fake lacing on what I think is the back, we can see from the inside that the boning and just little extra space is on the side with the hook and eyes. She didn't even fake it all the way up, just far enough so from the outside it looks like it is to the top but really it only goes to right under the edge of the bertha. Being on the model backwards might also explain why the bertha appears to be hanging so strange in the photos. We also see that the hook and eye side is longer.
Another reason I think this is homemade is that we can also so the stitches on the outside. Not pretty tiny professional stitches, but huge basting stitches... on the outside of the bodice... on silk.... in a non matching thread. The maker did try, and with such rich fabric its hard to believe that she would chance home sewing something that would have cost her husband or father a pretty penny. Silk was expensive, watermarked silk even more so. The inside is lovely though, and quite smart of her to have done the fake lacing.
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