Help Dating a Prairie Style Calico Nightgown

Hi all!
I have a calico print prairie style nightgown that I'm having a hard time dating. It has a built-in bodice placket with button closures, eyelet lace and crochet lace trim. The model actually is wearing it backwards I believe as the button placket should be in front.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Hmm I would consider this a dress, not a nightgown. Definitely looks 70s to me and it has great resale value. Reminds me of a gunne sax. Very hippie/boho.

 

I think this one is a lot older, lets see what others have to say.

 

Thank you! I agree it definitely has that hippie boho vibe but with the inner placket, quality of the cotton and lace I was thinking it may be older than 1970s.

 

I was thinking so too Carla!

 

It's gorgeous

 

I would like to see close ups of the fabric including the eyelet.
Marian

 

Marian here are some more images taken from my iphone. Let me know if you would like bigger or higher quality. Thank you!

 

Brooke it looks like an early piece to me is it possible to see some interior shots. It does close at the front.
It is lovely

 

Here are a couple more - bigger images. Thanks Tish!

 

Looks like 1880s or later "tea gown" or wrapper. Maybe closer to 1900, even. Wrappers/tea gowns often have tie belts like that. The armscyes look set too high on the shoulder to be 1860s.

 

Thank you Diana!

 

Would you call this print calico?

 

That is really lovely. I would place it in the very early 1900s, around 1903-1905 ish. I don't see it as a nightgown. It is not a tea gown, tea gowns were much more lavish and were meant to be seen by guests in the home. Your lovely garment would have been worn around the home in the mornings, for lounging, taking breakfast, conducting the toilette, etc.

You could call it a wrapper. The Watteau back is a wonderful touch, and the tiny printed roses are so sweet!

Really nice!

 

My research leads me to believe that earlier "tea gowns" weren't particularly lavish. Some were used during pregnancy for the functionality of the loose fit. I would almost go so far as to say that wrappers evolved into tea gowns and then tea gowns evolved into the lacy, lavish delicacies that comes to mind with that term. It's a never ending research pet project of mine.

Now where did I put my file on that??

 

Diana,

That may be true, but by the time this garment was made, a tea gown was indeed a very lavish affair, meant to be worn while entertaining guests at home. To refer to this garment as such would be incorrect. As the fashions terms change, the shapes and construction of the garments behind them change along with the terminology. I was simply keeping pace with the time period in which this was made. No one in that time would ever entertain guests in that sheer gown. It was far too intimate a garment.

I won't disagree much further here on this thread, but I have a much different pool of research on the subject of tea gowns.

 

Brooke I would say it's date is around the 1900 to 1904, I would call this gown a wrapper as women would were them in the morning
to have breakfast and get ready for the day. We have quite a few at the museum and most have a lining as yours. I love the delicate print.
They tied in the front.