Help dating 1800s antique bodice - possibly 1830s or late 1840s?

[DaisyandStella]

Hi!

I have an antique silk bodice with ruching at the shoulders and below bust, drop sleeve with fringe and a rounded waist. The bodice is lined with glazed cotton and there are hook/eye closures down the back. Hand sewn - no machine sewing on this one.

A colleague of mine suggested late 1840s or early 1850s as the bodice doesn't have the signature pointed front of the earlier 1840s. However, the drop shoulder and round waist were both popular in the 1830s.. but the fitted sleeves doesn't fit with that dating either.

Would love your opinions, thank you!

Brooke

 

[pastperfect2]

The fitted long sleeves and the jockey sleeves, up top: mid 1840s and onward to the 60s.
The shirred and pleated front bodice: looks 1850s to me
The round waist - late 1850s to 1860s

So I am going to guess later 1850s- early 1860s. Unless the CF bodice is cut on the bias, and the garment is completely handsewn, then I'm out to lunch, or at least getting in the car to go to the deli!

Jonathan could help get you to a more specific range.

 

[DaisyandStella]

The fitted long sleeves and the jockey sleeves, up top: mid 1840s and onward to the 60s.
The shirred and pleated front bodice: looks 1850s to me
The round waist - late 1850s to 1860s

So I am going to guess later 1850s- early 1860s. Unless the CF bodice is cut on the bias, and the garment is completely handsewn, then I'm out to lunch, or at least getting in the car to go to the deli!

Jonathan could help get you to a more specific range.

Thank you Hollis! The garment does appear to be completely handsewn - I have pics of interior seams and back of those seams which look like longer overlapping stitches. Do you know the pattern on the silk - would that be called embossed or is there a different name for that?

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

That is lovely. I am seeing very early 1860s, but I am not authority on this era, just a feeling I get from the shape and also the fringes on the trim which was popular then. It could be earlier, 1850s. Jonathan will help us!

 

[Jonathan]

Same reaction as Hollis everything is pretty typical for the mid 40s to early 50s, but its very short waisted which pushes it later. Not dissimilar to the bodices in this, unfortunately, undated photo...

This is not untypical of North American rural dressmaking as the client had say over the design, and it could have been based on a favourite older dress that the client wanted a newer style based on. I run across a lot of dressy silk dresses from the 1840s/50s/60s that all exhibit a toned-down version of fashion, with narrower skirts and old fashioned elements in the trims and styling. We were just donated an orange silk with brown windowpane check silk dress from c. 1860. In this case the bodice is up to date, but the skirt would only take a couple of petticoats at most - it isn't following the crinoline style and we know it was made in a small town by a dressmaker for a client. I think this bodice probably has a similar back story.

 

[poppysvintageclothing]

Such a beautiful piece!

 

[DaisyandStella]

Same reaction as Hollis everything is pretty typical for the mid 40s to early 50s, but its very short waisted which pushes it later. Not dissimilar to the bodices in this, unfortunately, undated photo...

This is not untypical of North American rural dressmaking as the client had say over the design, and it could have been based on a favourite older dress that the client wanted a newer style based on. I run across a lot of dressy silk dresses from the 1840s/50s/60s that all exhibit a toned-down version of fashion, with narrower skirts and old fashioned elements in the trims and styling. We were just donated an orange silk with brown windowpane check silk dress from c. 1860. In this case the bodice is up to date, but the skirt would only take a couple of petticoats at most - it isn't following the crinoline style and we know it was made in a small town by a dressmaker for a client. I think this bodice probably has a similar back story.
View attachment 168301

Thank you Jonathan and Barbara!

 

[Gail Brassard]

I'd put it at 40's to VERY early 50s at the latest. That ruching detail at the center front is synonymous with the 1840s--and those sleeves are more 40s than from other decades. Things do get we-worked over the years, but usually the most likely answer is THE answer.

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

I, too, see late 1840s to early 1850s and wonder if the pointed V waistline has been softened as both the exterior and interior waistline show possible signs of updating, which gives it a later look, obscuring its origins.