Description
During the middle of the 1800s, European and American women’s fashion favored voluminous bell-shaped skirts worn with matching, tightly fitted bodices, which helped make the wearer’s waist appear slender in comparison to the full skirt below. Such skirts were often decorated with several tiers of gathered flounces that added volume to the already wide garments.
Provenance
Helen D. Adams, Chicago, by 1957 [incoming receipt RX2139, Feb. 14, 1957; copy in curatorial object file]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago.
Fragment of a Woman's Skirt Flounce
c. 1850
Accession Number
196538
Medium
Silk, warp-faced pattern woven to shape, on plain weave foundation
Dimensions
50.2 × 54 cm (19 3/4 × 21 1/4 in.)
Classification
costume accessory
Credit Line
Gift of Helen D. Adams
