Antique Vintage Edwardian Victorian Original Hand Stitched Purple Silk Dress

For your enjoyment is this beautiful original hand sewn antique Victorian/Edwardian early 1900s purple silk dress. The dress is made of purple silk material with white poke-a-dots. It is lined with a complete under garment of cotton and gauze material behind the lace collar. The waist is boned and is seen in picture #11. Picture #12 shows the entire garment is hand stitched.

The under garment has ties on both sides of the skirt to tie it to a padded bustle. Since I do not have one to display with it and my dress form was to large to close the back as shown in picture #3, I can only assume these ties are for a padded bustle of some sort. The size is small bust 32" waist 25" hips 34 A high neck collar of dark blue lace has embroidered work.

The bodice has tiny blue, pink, and purple roses embroidered work below the lace collar and bows of the same silk material. Sleeves are long with the same blue lace as the collar and the ends of the lace are trimmed with the same embroider work of roses. The skirt is tired with attached bows and the sash at the waist flows down the back with a very unusual ball at each end, this is shown in picture #8. The dress closes using small hooks at the back and waist.

Please look at the pictures as there is so much detail to this dress it is hard to describe it all. There is some damage to the silk, lace, and under garment as shown in the pictures and description, however, when displayed it remains very beautiful. The silk is torn at the hem on the left lower side as shown in picture #10 and in picture #9 is on the lower right side, both are in the folds and do not show when hanging. The lower part of the skirt has a couple of splits in the silk where the material was folded.

The lace collar has some splits on the left top as shown in picture #5 and small nickle size hole in the back on the same side. Picture #5 also shows some splitting in the gauze material lining the lace collar.

Picture #6 shows a 3 inch tear in the lace at the left elbow. Above this on the same sleeve is a 2 inch tear in the silk. There are three covered buttons on one side that show some wear in the silk. The white cotton under garment lining has some brown staining because of its age and can be seen in pictures #11 and 12.

There are a few areas on the sleeves and waist which could use a stitch or two to tack the material in place. The purple silk is bright however, may have some unseen color changes when in a bright light that I did not see and this is to be expected since this dress is over 100 years old and is in good condition in spite of its age. I would not recommend wearing this dress however, it makes a wonderful display for any dress collector.

The item "Antique Vintage Edwardian Victorian Original Hand Stitched Purple Silk Dress" is in sale since Saturday, February 15, 2020. This item is in the category "Clothing, Shoes & Accessories\Specialty\Vintage\Women's Vintage Clothing\Dresses". The seller is "firetruck1950" and is located in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. This item can be shipped worldwide.

• Waist Size: 25 inches
• Hip Size: 34 inches
• Look: Victorian
• Original/Reproduction: Original
• Color: Purple
• Brand: Antique