Brown and black striped silk moiré bodice and skirt
date: label: Date
content: 1860-1874
name: label: Attributed to
content: Louvinia Price, American, 1857 - 1935
label: Owned by
content: Lucy Louvinia Cordice, American, 1915 - 1995
label: Subject of
content: Black Fashion Museum, American, 1979 - 2007
notes: label: Caption
content: Born enslaved in Alabama, Louvinia Price (1857–1934) worked as a dressmaker after gaining her freedom. This silk moiré ensemble is believed to have been made by Price for an employer, who later returned it to her. Lucy Cordice, also a designer and dressmaker, inherited it from Price, her grandmother.
label: Description
content: A brown and black striped silk moiré women’s day ensemble consisting of a bodice and skirt. The bodice (a) is made of brown and black striped silk moiré faille and has dropped shoulders. The bodice’s round neckline and armscye seams are piped, and a band of cotton lace is hand-stitched to the neckline. The piped neckline is encased with black silk crepeline. The bodice’s lace collar and undersleeves were later additions likely added in the 1900s. The bias-cut sleeves are a bell-shaped variation and are three quarter length. Hand-stitched to the sleeves’ bottom edges are plain weave cotton undersleeves embellished with lace insertions. The bodice opens at the center front with eleven black shank buttons. A seven-inch dart is sewn to each side below the bust. The front of the bodice ends in a deep point at the center front. The bodice’s bottom edge is trimmed with black passementerie embellished with thread-covered wooden beads and black glass beads at the ends. The bodice’s proper right and proper left sides were both let out with two triangular fabric panels. One panel is the same black and brown striped silk moiré faille used for the bodice, and the other is a black silk taffeta. These panels are lined with black synthetic fabric with pinked edges. To accommodate this size alteration, a triangular gusset of black silk taffeta is inserted at each sleeve’s underarm. The front of the bodice is constructed of four panels and the back is made of three. The center back panel curves in and down from the armscyes to a narrow shape at the waist which is joined to two curved side panels. The center back is constructed with a self-fabric pointed tail that has its two corners folded inwards and tacked down. Two adhesive repairs for splitting silk are applied to the center back of the bodice. The bodice is lined with light-brown glazed cotton. The panels are machine-stitched together with black thread. The sleeves are lined with cream cotton. At the center front opening’s proper right side near the waistline, there is a short bone covered in brown cotton twill. The bodice’s center front point is lined with brown silk, as is the center back tail.
label: Description
content: The matching skirt (b) is made of brown and black striped silk moiré faille. It has a one-inch waistband which closes at front with a single metal hook and eye. The waistband is hand sewn to the skirt and is made of black silk. The skirt was extensively altered multiple times. The center front of the skirt now has a center front opening at the waistband, and its placket does not fasten. The center front seam is a later construction alteration as indicated by the fabric’s edges being loosely basted together. Three large box pleats are sewn to the back of the skirt below the waistband. The center back box pleat is four inches wide with a knife pleat at the proper right side and two knife pleats on the proper left side. The proper right and left box pleats have one knife pleat on each side. The skirt has a three-and-a-half-inch single fold hem which is likely not original to its construction. The hem is basted to the interior with double-strand thread. The skirt’s raw edge is encased with a trim of black velvet. Below this trim, there is an old fold line that likely indicates the original hem’s fold. An eight-inch-wide band of glazed cotton is sewn to the bottom of the skirt. An inseam pocket is sewn to the proper right side made of brown cotton.
place: label: Place made
content: Selma, Dallas County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Clothing and dress
label: Topic
content: Craftsmanship
label: Topic
content: Design
label: Topic
content: Emancipation
label: Topic
content: Fashion
label: Topic
content: Fashion design
label: Topic
content: Labor
label: Topic
content: Skilled labor
label: Topic
content: Slavery
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: Black Fashion Museum Collection
label: Classification
content: Clothing - Fashion and Historical
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Black Fashion Museum founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2007.3.159ab
objectType: label: Type
content: bodices
label: Type
content: skirts
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: silk faille moiré, silk, cotton, cotton twill, cotton lace, synthetic, metal, wood, glass, and boning
label: Dimensions
content: L x W (jacket): 28 × 25 1/2 in. (71.1 × 64.8 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: Sleeve (jacket): 23 1/4 in. (59.1 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: L x W (skirt): 44 × 146 in. (111.8 × 370.8 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: Waist (skirt): 27 1/2 in. (69.9 cm)