Images(3)

Dress

Date1817-1825

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Accomack County

MediumWhite cotton with ink border design, probably stamped.

DimensionsOverall length 56" Selvage width greater than 35 1/2" (selvages cut and overcast.) Midriff band measures 37 1/2" in circumference. Skirt fullness 90 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1996-105

DescriptionWoman's gown of white cotton stamped with black ink in a border design consisting of two different widths of leaves and dotted scrolls imitating blackwork needlework. Gown has wide, square neckline constructed with bias piece over the bust. Short, puffed sleeves, ending in stamped band, cut off and left with raw edge. Stamped band beneath bust is inset between narrow bodice and skirt. Skirt is slim, trimmed with stamping forming wide inverted V down front, meeting a border band of stamped design all around hem; hem 1 7/8" deep. Back of bodice is untrimmed. Gown opens down the center back, probably pinned closed.
Label TextGown
Possibly Virginia, 1817-1825
Cotton with inked decoration, sleeves shortened
1996-105
Women sometimes wore white dresses with black trimmings for mourning. The black-inked design on this dress appears to be later than the original construction, possibly added for mourning wear. A fragmentary note with this gown identifies it as a "Dress made and worn by Mrs. [torn] White When James Monroe was inaugurated 181[7]." The gown was found in Accomac, Virginia, and may come from that area.

ProvenanceThe garment came with a paper tag reading "Dress made and worn by Mrs. (? ) White when James Monroe was inaugurated 181?." (Monroe was president 1817-1825.)Associated with an Accomac, Virginia, family.