Printed floral skirt worn by Lucy Lee Shirley as a child
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1860
name: label: Created by
content: Unidentified
label: Worn by
content: Lucy Lee Shirley, American, 1855 - 1929
label: Subject of
content: Black Fashion Museum, American, 1979 - 2007
notes: label: Description
content: A child's circular skirt in a floral print with a pleated flounce on the hem. The main fabric is a plain weave natural fiber fabric with a cream ground and a repeating pattern of small four-petal flowers in red, purple, blue, and tan. The skirt is predominantly hand-sewn. It has a waistband made from an undyed bast fiber fabric with the floral print gathered and whip stitched to the waistband. The skirt is more closely gathered on the back. There is a slit at the center back that divides the waistband completely. There is no attached closure method, but rust staining at the back opening of the waistband suggests the skirt was pinned to close. The bottom of the skirt has an extra flounce of the floral print that has a series of pleats around the skirt in sets of three alternating with straight sections. This flounce is machine-sewn at the top and 1 1/2 inches from the bottom using blue thread that is possibly a synthetic fiber. The bottom and top edges of the flounce are bound with blue fabric sewn on the bias. The interior of the skirt is lined only behind the extra flounce with a hand-pinked undyed bast fiber fabric. There is a previous repair on the back proper right side of the skirt where a panel of light brown synthetic fabric is hand sewn on the interior of the skirt from the gathering at the waist to the top of the older linen lining on the bottom.
place: label: Place used
content: Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Children
label: Topic
content: Clothing and dress
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: Slavery and Freedom Objects
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: 2007.3.5
objectType: 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: bast fiber, wool textile, and synthetic fiber
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (Flat): 18 × 33 1/2 in. (45.7 × 85.1 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: Waist: 24 1/2 in. (62.2 cm)