Another wrapper on ebay

[Joanna Jones]

Here's a nifty wrapper: http://tinyurl.com/2mcuqt

[Elizabeth]

Cute!  I love the little buttons at the tops of the pocket as reinforcement... looks rather like a googly-eye smile.

[LissaWilson]

I also found this gorgeous silk ballgown that is too good to miss! The listing says it is from the Tasha Tudor collection at Colonial Williamsburg.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250188069231&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_RSCC_Pr4_PcY_BID_Stores_IT&refitem=250187165240&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&usedrule1=StoreCatToStoreCat&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget

[Joanna Jones]

What features make this dress '40s?  I'm still not confident of my ability to date evening gowns.

[LissaWilson]

You're going to have to ask a better expert than I! I have never made a ballgown because we don't have any balls at our site. I think the cartridge pleating and pointed waist have something to do with it though, at least dating it prior to 1860. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong...

[Denise Butler]

Sheesh... that didn't take long - the Tasha Tudor auction was last Sunday.

[Miss_Elisabeth]

I'd say it's 40's because of the shape of the bertha and neckline, and the sleeves and armsyce . . . . those sleeves are very much an 1840's thing, and when combined with that pointed waistline seaming, with the bertha over top . . . very 1840s in shape!

[Glenna Jo Christen]

Formal wear is very conservative, with many features from formal day wear lingering on in formal wear (for example, tail coats for men was once good day wear, but by the 1840s it was basically relegated to very formal wear, which it still is today.) The deep pointed waist line and pleated berthe remained in fashion for formal evening wear for women for many decades after they fell out of fashion for day wear, but the straight, tight sleeves did not survive much past the 1840s even for evening wear with gauged skirts falling out of high fashion favor by the 1860s. Silk floral brocades also fell out of fashion by the late '50s. The sleeves are what really date the dress to the '40s though as they were the first of those features to change. It is a lovely dress isn't it?
BTW, the catalog for the auction is lovely. While I would have liked to see even more photos (call me greedy. ), it is still filled with excellent photos of all the really cool stuff and at least descriptions of all the items in the auction. A list of final sale prices was included which was pretty cool. It just arrived the other day and I've not had a chance to pour over it yet the way it deserves.

Glenna Jo Christen

[Elizabeth]

Glenna and others have already nailed the Reasons To Think 40s for me... You can see how well the dress looks over the dome/bell petticoat/crinoline styles of the 40s, too; not quite enough circumference for a hoop to sit really well.

Isn't that seaming in the bodice just gorgeous?  And I love the pleating on the berthe, which looks to be bias bands applied, in order to get that graceful spread and curve without being "stick-outy".

[Denise Butler]

And I love the pleating on the berthe, which looks to be bias bands applied, in order to get that graceful spread and curve without being "stick-outy".

If my c.1840 cotton dress is any indication, the "pleated" berthe is indeed separate bias bands applied to the bodice pieces before the center front and shoulder seams were sewn.

[Joanna Jones]

Here's another wrapper - looks like for someone with really long arms!  http://tinyurl.com/2suk4y

[RebekahW]

Maybe the cuffs were meant to roll back? 

[iphigenia]

Some people have very long arms for their height...

--Laura, who has been called "Monkey Arms" many times

[Carolann Schmitt]

The mannequin it's displayed on has rather narrow shoulders; look how far the armscye is dropped. It makes the sleeves look even longer than they are.

Carolann - who also has long arms