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  • Child's Tunic, 1840-1850

    Child's Tunic, 1840-1850

    This might be a boy's tunic, to be worn with trousers, although one wonders if the color and fabric were sufficiently masculine (it might also be a girl's tunic, but appears to be too short). This piece might have been used by the Bowen family of Pennsylvania.

  • Girl's Dress with Pantaloons, about 1850

    Girl's Dress with Pantaloons, about 1850

    This dress is notable for its casualness and ease of movement, with the shoulders and sleeves at a natural level. It is also notable for the lower-style dress and the fact that it is made from scraps and can be altered easily. The bodice decoration is reminiscent of 1840's "points."

  • Girl's Dress and Jacket, about 1870

    Girl's Dress and Jacket, about 1870

    A nice special occasion dress, worn with a blousewaist. The use of magenta and black together suggests a circa 1870 fabric - a popular aniline dye combination at the time. Also, the zouave-style jacket was popular in 1860s. The red and black silk "shag" trim on the jacket is interesting but is not a great match for rest of the piece. Overall, this girl's outfit has the feel of the bustle and puff style popular in women's dresses of the 1870s.

  • Girl's Dress, 1845-1860

    Girl's Dress, 1845-1860

    This lovely, expensive girl's dress would have been worn for very special occasions and appears to have been seldom used.

  • Girl's Dress, 1880-1885

    Girl's Dress, 1880-1885

    Straight, low-waisted, heavily knife-pleated girl's silhouette dresses were very common in the early 1880's; men's suit fashions were also often reflected in women's clothing of the period.

  • Girl's Embroidered Cotton Dress, 1840-1850

    Girl's Embroidered Cotton Dress, 1840-1850

    White cotton dress with wide, collar-less neck and slightly belled sleeves. Bodice and skirt gathered; tight gauging along center-front and center-back waist. Empty whalebone casing at center-front. Self-fabric piping at neck, waist and sleeves. White embroidery at hem; hem and cuffs finished with irregular scalloping and crochet trim. Two tucks on skirt. Bodice lined with plain-weave cotton; sleeves and skirt unlined. Bodice open at center-back; hammered-wire hook and eye closures. Hand-sewn. T…

  • Girl's Dress, 1840-1850

    Girl's Dress, 1840-1850

    This is a party or special occasion dress, the light washable fabric probably meant for summer wear. The workmanship is exquisite, the gauging tight and beautiful, the hem stitching fine and nearly invisible. With its drop sleeves, gauging, and wide neckline, the line of the dress is very similar to those worn by older women in the early 1840s. The dress is a gift of a New York State family.

  • Girl's Muslin Print Dress, about 1840

    Girl's Muslin Print Dress, about 1840

    Muslin dress printed with red, tan and yellow flower sprig motif. Pieced, lined bodice with round neckline and channels for bones at center front. Lawn-lined bishop sleeves. Gauging at top of shoulder, top of sleeves, and center front. Hammered wire hooks and eyes on sleeves; center-back hook and eye closures. Pleated skirt with many repaired holes. Hand-sewn. This is an early and very fashionable dress with a very high waist - mother's styling in a child's dress, including channels for bones to…

  • Child's Dress, 1780-1830

    Child's Dress, 1780-1830

    This dress, which belonged to the Hungerford family of rural New York State and could have been worn by a girl or boy, has features dating from a broad span of years. The bodice is constructed to reflect, in very simple form, a woman's bodice with a faux busk pocket or channel in the center front, which seems more late eighteenth than early nineteenth century. It appears to be a bit later than the collection's other woodblock-printed Mitchell family dress (object no. 35.894.1).

  • Child's Dress, 1810-1825

    Child's Dress, 1810-1825

    The puff-over-long sleeve style was seen in women's fashions around 1810-1820. Pastel silks were also used during this period for "best dresses." See: Bradfield, Costume in Detail, pp.107-110; Buck & Cunnington, Children's Costume, p. 195. This dress was probably worn with pantalettes, probably by a little girl, although boys wore similar dresses in this era before the age of about three.

  • Child's Dress, about 1780

    Child's Dress, about 1780

    This is the earliest child's dress in the Henry Ford collection. While it seems logical that it would close in back, the sleeves are set in in such a way as to indicate a front closure like other short or long gowns. The fabric may well be British. From the Mitchell family of rural New York State.

  • Girl's Dress, about 1885

    Girl's Dress, about 1885

    This is a fairly inexpensive and rather short ready-to-wear dress for a young girl. It is surely a summer or spring dress - light in color and easily washable. Dresses of this type were often advertised in clothing catalogs of the mid-1880s.

  • Embroidered Pink Silk Taffeta Girl's Dress, about 1905

    Embroidered Pink Silk Taffeta Girl's Dress, about 1905

    Pink silk taffeta dress with flowers embroidered in silk on yoke, sleeve cuffs and skirt. High neck, with ruffled lace forming stand collar. Long set-in sleeves with turnover cuffs. Yoke and drop waist with rather crude hand smocking. Short pleated skirt. Center-back opening with four mother-of-pearl buttons. Machine-sewn, but gathering on bodice is done by large hand-stitching. Some top-stitching executed in machine stitches of chain-stitch with silk thread; interior seams of cotton thread in l…

  • Girl's Dress, 1915-1920

    Girl's Dress, 1915-1920

    This lovely, loose-flowing Arts and Crafts-inspired dress belonged to Alleen Kelly Feiss and is the only truly higher-style Arts and Crafts girl's dress in The Henry Ford's collection.The Arts and Crafts-style decorative embroidery is quite distinctive.

  • Child's Print Silk Twill Petticoat Dress, about 1885

    Child's Print Silk Twill Petticoat Dress, about 1885

    White silk twill dress with printed blue sprigs, attached long-sleeved lace chemisette, and petticoat. High ruffled lace collar and ruffled lace sleeve cuffs. Self-fabric piping. Self-fabric sash around waist; bow-tied in center-back; padded to form slight bustle. Center-back button closures. Glazed cotton lining. Cotton petticoat with lace hem visible below dress hem, which is slit into panels. Machine lace. Machine and hand-sewn; dressmaker made. This is a fashionable princess-line party dress…

  • Printed Cotton Calico Girl's Dress, about 1845

    Printed Cotton Calico Girl's Dress, about 1845

    White cotton calico dress, roller-printed with tan stripes, small red dots, and small red stylized flower petal motif in narrow vertical stripe pattern. Long drop sleeves. Pointed front bodice; vertical gauging emanating from point to bustline; whalebone stiffening at center front; darts on either side; side seams; round neck. Skirt gathered at waistline with small bustle. Tucks on sleeve and hem. Piping throughout. Cotton lining. Hook and eye closures. Fine hand stitching. According to the sour…

  • Red Wool Twill Child's Dress, 1860-1870

    Red Wool Twill Child's Dress, 1860-1870

    Gored child's frock of red wool twill with black wool braid around neck, sleeves, hem. Round neck with self-piping and white eyelet machine lace; lace repeated on two-piece bishop sleeves. Three gores in front, four in back. Center-back closure has nine buttons (one decorative). Upper half lined with white unglazed cotton; lower half with glazed linen; linings sewn together. Band of white muslin at hem edge. All fabric bias-cut; hand-stitched; seam edges bound closed; magenta thread used. This i…

  • Girl's Plaid cotton Smock or Apron, 1870-1890

    Girl's Plaid cotton Smock or Apron, 1870-1890

    Blue and white plaid cotton smock/apron. Simple one-piece construction with very large armholes and sleeves to fit over other clothing. Broad, rounded, Buster Brown-style collar. Three-button closure at upper back and buttoned self-fabric half-belt across lower back; back otherwise open. Sleeves and upper back gathered at yoke. Many stained and bleached areas on front. Machine stitched. According to the source of purchase, this young girl's smock belonged to the Linsley Simpson family of Northfo…

  • Short Sleeve Wool Child's Embroidered Dress, 1840-1850

    Short Sleeve Wool Child's Embroidered Dress, 1840-1850

    Blue dress of fine wool twill. Square, gathered neckline. Gathered cap sleeves. Gathered and pleated bodice lined with cotton. Applied waistband. Box-pleated skirt. Hand-embroidered flowered vine motif around sleeves, waist, hem. Sleeve edging embroidered in the pieceand cut from cloth. Center-back closures of hammered wire hooks and threaded eyes. Hand-sewn. Appears to have been altered to fit fuller torso: bodice lining shows stitching removed to let out pleats, skirt changed from gathering to…

  • Boy's Red Wool Dress, about 1850

    Boy's Red Wool Dress, about 1850

    Red wool dress with wide shoulders, cap sleeves. Silk-lined Basque bodice with tucked front. Unlined flat-pleated skirt with tuck. Purple silk applique. Piping at waist and sleeve seams. Center-back hook and threaded-eye closure. Expertly hand-sewn; small stitches. This dress is notable for its exquisite workmanship, high styling for a children's garment, and unisex quality. It was probably for a boy, and probably worn with drawers and undersleeves. The bodice tucks and shoulder/sleeve construct…