Age of dress hoop, and is this a slip or skirt?

These are two of the items I picked up at the estate sale of a woman who was over 100 years old. The first is the net dress hoop, what era was this from? Closes at the side with two hooks and eyes.


The second is a very tiny wasted (22”) slip or skirt. A lovely wool with pretty embroidery along the hem. There is a placket at the side but no way to fasten it, and no sign that there ever was anything. What would have been used as a closure and is this a slip or a skirt?

 

Thank you, Mary Jane!
I never would have thought of the second item being from a baptismal outfit. I suppose it may have fit an older baby but certainly not a newborn. Do you think it was closed with something like a safety pin or a beauty pin?

 

The closed them with a pin - its the reason the safety pin was invented - for closing baby clothing. Although it's long and could have been used for a Christening gown, it's not necessarily for baptism - its a long winter petticoat but at the turn of the century, the idea was apparently to use long dresses for proms, so that the dress spilled out of the carriage! (I read that somewhere a while back -- don't remember where...)

 

@Jonathan, are you saying that the wool petticoat could have been for an adult? The wool portion (not including the wide cotton "waistband") measures 33 inches. Any idea of its age?

 

Looks like we posted at the same time, Mary Jane. The wool piece, not including the cotton waistband, is 33 inches long.

Editing to add: there were a lot of children's garments at the sale, including one baptismal gown which appeared sized for 0-3 months and looked nothing like this piece. (Doesn't mean that another sale customer didn't already purchase something that matched this piece, of course.) Also, wouldn't it have been more likely that the hand-embroidery along the hem would have included crosses/religious symbols?

 

I am sure Jonathan meant pram not prom in his post. Spell check strikes again. Those petticoats were wrapped around the baby's chest, under the arms, then pinned. They were for warmth and also for show, as can be seen in old photos. I have had the same type of petticoats made of cotton, often with elaborate embroidery and many tucks.
Marian

 

Ahhh, now I get the picture, thanks!

 

Yes, I meant pram... sorry about that - just sloppy typing on my part. Not all long baby dresses were Christening gowns - we had a collection of baby dresses come in to the collection that were from c. 1900, and they were all long but they all came from the same baby - although the longest of them all was the Christening dress, but if you didn't know that, you would think they were all intended as Christening gowns. I guess its like not all white dresses are for weddings, or black dresses for mourning...

 

Over the years I have had a number of baby garments similar, all made of this lovely cream vanilla colored wool, embroidered with silk or cotton threads in a lighter shade. Gowns, and matching coats or jackets. I always loved the work on these.

 

I've never seen religious motifs on christening gowns or confirmation dresses...

 

Neither have I with the symbols.

 

Come to think of it, neither have I, LOL. The cross was always on the white bib that the baby wore over the christening set at my old church.