Length, shoulder seam to waist: 17″

Length, across shoulders: 15″

Sleeve, shoulder seam to cuff: Approx. 23″

Waist, opened: 34″

Waist, closed: 33″

Bodice

This is a bodice, made of red-and-blue shot silk with a floral-and-crescent motif, accented with blue velvet facings and metallic beaded trim. The bodice has two large puffed sleeves which taper into narrow cuffs at the wrist. The front of the bodice is embellished with two blue velvet panels (one on each side of the front opening), which when combined form an inverted triangle shape. Remnants of metallic trim in the shoulder seams, and wear patterns along the chest, suggest these blue velvet panels were decorated with trim. The bodice closes at the front with a set of alternating hooks and eyes. Two darts are on either side of the front closure.

Inside, the bodice is lined with brown glazed cotton. The bodice has 13 bones (each encased in black casing) and wide, pinked seams with blue trim.

There is no matching skirt for this bodice.

I purchased this bodice in 2018 from an itinerant vintage clothing vendor at Sarah Lawrence College. The vendor had marketed it as a Shakespearean theatre costume piece.

There is a tag on the back of the collar which reads “Scholder, Renée” with half of an address attached. Unfortunately I don’t have any information about Renée Scholder at this time.

Notes

It may not look it, but this bodice has been “restored” back to its original appearance. This was the first historic clothes item I ever purchased, in 2018, with the intent of using it as a Halloween costume. I was a senior in college at the time and while I recognized the bodice had the 1890s style, I didn’t believe it actually was from the 19th century. (I figured it was a theatre piece.) To make it presentable, I sewed synthetic blue fabric over the worn velvet facings and front. In the process, I removed the metallic trim from the cuffs to lay the blue fabric on better, as well as the lace on the collar. Thankfully, I kept the trims in a separate, labeled tin.

My years spent working with historic clothing from the late 19th century helped me realize that this bodice, in fact, is an original piece. After seven years spent as my go-to Halloween costume, I decided to remove all of my added alterations and reattached the beaded trims and lace to their original places. The wear patterns on the blue velvet facings in particular helped me reattach the beaded trim in their original places.