Silk organza unfinished dress with blue embroidery
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1966
name: label: Created by
content: Unidentified
label: Subject of
content: Black Fashion Museum, American, 1979 - 2007
notes: label: Description
content: A silk organza unfinished dress with blue embroidery. The unfinished dress consists of three parts, a bodice, sleeves with a pattern piece, and a skirt panel. All of these elements are made of silk organza embroidered with florals in blue two-ply cotton embroidery thread. The sleeveless bodice (a) has a square neckline in the front and transitions into a deep-V at the back. White glass beads arranged in floral motifs embellish the neckline at the front and back. The neckline is a separate panel from the bodice, and the seams where it is machine-stitched to the bodice are scalloped and bound with the same blue thread used for the fabric’s embroidery. The bodice’s back is constructed of two bias-cut panels that originally joined at the center back. Each back panel includes the shoulders of the bodice that extend over to the front. Along both sides of the center back opening, the fabric is held together with straight pins, four on the proper left side and six on the proper right side. The bodice’s interior has a camisole lining constructed of synthetic (likely acetate) faille overlaid with net (likely nylon). These two layers of fabric are machine-stitched together along their seams and bottom hem. The camisole has two bust darts and synthetic gauze straps that are held in place with lingerie strap guards at each shoulder. Two straight pins hold the camisole and bodice fabric layers together at the center front near the bottom hem.
label: Description
content: This unfinished bodice is also paired with a sleeve paper pattern piece and two pieces of silk organza (b). The same silk organza used on the bodice is used for the sleeve panels. The Simplicity sleeve pattern is pinned to two panels of fabric with nine metal straight pins. The fabric is pinned to the pattern’s wrong side. The creator of this object modified this pattern as the fabric panels are short, but the paper pattern is for long bishop sleeves. The pattern includes instructions in English, Spanish, and French and has multiple markings and instructions across the surface of the paper. Information on the pattern is printed on the top proper left corner which reads “Printed in U.S.A. Simplicity 4114 - size 16, 10 pieces given, Sleeve view 1.”
label: Description
content: The ensemble is also paired with an unfinished skirt panel made of the same silk organza as the previous components. The panel is folded in half with the right sides together. The edges of the fabric are pinned together with sixteen straight pins. The top (waist) edge of the skirt curves downwards and is squared off with newspaper wedges pinned to the fabric. The newspaper with the skirt panel is the “Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., April 24, 1966” and is pieced together from 3 different newspaper pieces pinned together with three pins. The fabric is unlined and unstitched.
label: Cataloging Notes
content: This project received Federal support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Clothing and dress
label: Topic
content: Fashion
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: 2007.3.646abc
objectType: label: Type
content: dresses
label: Type
content: patterns (guides)
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 organza, cotton embroidery thread, synthetic faille, glass beads, paper, newspaper, and metal pins
label: Dimensions
content: L x W (a. bodice): 17 × 10 in. (43.2 × 25.4 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: L x W (b. sleeve pattern): 26 × 27 1/2 in. (66 × 69.9 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: L x W (c. skirt panel): 27 1/2 × 21 in. (69.9 × 53.3 cm)