I bought this dress a couple of weeks ago at an estate sale and when I went to pay for it they asked if I saw the photo of it. I raced back upstairs and found the lovely photo here of a pretty young woman wearing that very dress. The back of the photo has a note: "Madeleine Mastin Day 2/21/92 - 1/14/82 married 6/14/18 Haynes Harold Fellows 7/14/91 - 10/5/82" I didn't notice until I tried to scan the photo, while in the frame, that there was apparently a pink ribbon running down both sides of the dress front top.
How wonderful to get the photo with it...lovely tea gown!!!! Love those cutouts on the skirt side panels.
I like them, too, but what confuses me is you don't see them in the photo. As I prepared the dress for storage I noticed the back of the skirt looks more like the front in the photo and I wonder if I had it on the mannequin backwards. The back of the bodice as it was on the mannequin looks the same as the front, but the hooks and eyes (which probably should have been on the front, correct?) drew the two crenelated sides of the bodice together so snugly that the bodice didn't look like the photo either. Perhaps they moved the hooks and eyes at some point...
Beautiful find. I would think the hooks would be in the front. But it makes me sad when the family doesn't keep these treasures.
Might the dress have been updated? The picture with her upswept hair and the pouched front to the bodice I would have said was c. 1911-1912, but when I saw the skirt I was surprised because it looks more 1913-1914.
That's a very interesting suggestion, Jonathan. I took the dress back out of the box and although I just did a quick look it didn't seem to have a later addition--but I just don't see evidence in the photo of those crenelated panels. I will try to photograph that part later. Thanks.
That's a spectacular piece. I love it when you find something of historical value included in the garment.
