Dark Blue Gown
Date18600000
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Martha Allen, 1986.
Object number1986.010.001
Label TextElizabeth Burgess Bourne first wore this dress as her wedding gown. She and her husband settled in the Chatham-Wallaceburg area between 1850 and 1860. After her wedding, this became Elizabeth's best dress. Made of dark blue silk, and featuring braid fringe on the bodice, the dress also boasts fashionable pagoda sleeves. This style exemplifies the practices of Orientalism and Chinoiserie in 19th-century western fashion, in which fabrics and silhouettes of European and American clothing were based on Asian clothing and culture. This sleeve style, with its narrow top, wide bottom, and swooping triangular shape, mimics aspects of Eastern architecture.
NameDRESS
c. 1910
c. 1875
1840s - 1880s
c. 1920
1890s
