Two-piece dress

Unknown artist

Two-piece summer fashion gown consisting of skirt and long-sleeved overlay of black and white fabric of white thin muslin cloth, printed with small black medallions depicting a landscape with temple ruins. The fashionable fabric and the shape of the gown indicate a fashion gown.‖ The bodice has long curved sleeves that are in two parts. Red bows in the center front, closure is missing. The red bows were probably added later. Red was not a fashionable color around 1865, but black was. The bodice was worn inside the skirt. Wrinkled skirt trimmed with black wool tape. \It is customary to alter dresses to suit fashion. Gowns are also altered in later periods for fancy dress parties and masquerades. This gown is, except for the red bows, not altered and in original condition.