This striking asymmetrical dinner dress was made by Lucile between 1910 and 1912. It was designed for a woman in “half-mourning”, the third phase of the very complicated Victorian mourning practices which still lingered in the Edwardian era. Half-mourning allowed for the addition of white, gray and lavender to black mourning garments and also allowed for additional jewelry and ornamentation.
Edwardian - Evening dress House of Worth (French, Date: ca. 1910 Culture: French Medium: silk Dimensions: Length: 59 in. cm) Credit Line: Gift of Miss Eva Drexel Dahlgren, 1976
Early mourning dress and petticoat. Black wool, princess-lined, slightly bustled, trimmed with black crepe & gathered frill flounces, with pleated bib front. Petticoat of diamond-quilted silk satin.
Dinner dress Date: Culture: American Medium: silk Dimensions: Length at CB: 73 in. cm) Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs.
Mourning Dress, Charlotte Duclos (French): ca. "The elaborate but subtle beading on this mourning dress would have shimmered when new. The asymmetry of the charmeuse panel is indicative of the high fashion of the period.