Coat Dress, about 1950

This is an interesting dress in that it appears to be a transitional late 1940s style. It includes features of prewar fashion such as the shoulder pads, but also has some of the fullness in the skirt characteristic of circa 1947 New Look styling. It was owned by Elizabeth Palmer Ward DeVine of Ann Arbor, MI. Elizabeth Palmer Ward DeVine was born in to one of Michigan's oldest mining families.Her great great grandfather, Charles Henry Palmer, was a pioneer investor and developer of mines and rail…