Tell me more about this dress, please

onceoza

onceoza

Registered Guest
I am new posting to this board. I acquired this lovely dress which I am thinking late 1800's. What I don't understand is why the skirt is so short in the front and kind of has a train in the back. Women back then would never have shown their legs!








 
Hi,

It is hard to tell what this is from just a photo, but it does appear to be the latter 1800's. Dresses at that time were always in 2 pieces, so this would have been worn over a skirt. 1 piece dresses did not really come into normal use until the early 20th century. There were 1 piece "wrappers" and robes for wearing at home, but not for street wear.

Barbara
 
I agree with Barbara - I think it's a late 1870s printed wool(?) dress and would have had a self material slightly trained skirt worn under it.
 
Calico means different things to everyone. Calico is actually a coarsely woven thin cotton, typically a cheap cotton (from India) that was used in the 18th century to make everyday garments. These cheap cottons were often printed in a floral pattern and so people usually think calico means a floral print, but it doesn't. The same is true for gingham, which is a check woven cotton, but everyone thinks its the telltale two tone coloured pattern, which it is not. Technically, neither term has anything to do with the colour or print, they are types of woven cotton.
 
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