Date: c. 1840s

Modeled by: Heather & Hope

Location: Our 1914 Parlor in San Jose & Our 1888 Parlor in Ferndale

Price: Not for Sale

This ensemble dates from the 1840s. It was purchased in Bath, England and it is the oldest and one of the smallest outfits in the collection. The waist measures about 20 inches, and the shoulders are very narrow, but it is cut for a fuller bust so it doesn’t appear to be a girl’s outfit. The unique feature of this ensemble is that it came with both a day and evening bodice along with the matching skirt. It is made out of organza, with embroidery details.

This is one of the garments that we photographed during our shoot with Heather, who was the first model we found to help us document the collection. The shoot was done in the parlor of our 1914 Craftsman Bungalow in San Jose, and is one of the few shoots of the collection that was done on film. We photographed Heather in 1999 and shortly thereafter Matt bought his first digital camera.

The second shoot, with Hope, was shot in the recently completed parlor of our 1888 Eastlake Victorian in Ferndale. As you go through the photos of the various pieces in our collection, you’ll see the parlor in various states of being restored.