1911 White Cotton Lingerie Dress

This white cotton voile lingerie gown is ankle length and was originally worn with an underdress and a small petticoat. The gown is a mono-bosom style with a square neckline, A-line skirt, set in elbow length sleeves and a 2.5 inch waistband that sits at the natural waistline. The seams of the gown are sewn with French seams and are very fine, only about 1/8 inch wide. The seaming between the voile and lace tiers are hand sewn with the voile folded into a narrow hem and whip stitched to the edge of the lace.
The skirt is made of long rectangles of cotton voile that are sewn in tiers which wrap horizontally rather than vertically around the body. The top tier of the skirt is gathered into the waist and the second voile tier has very fine, 2 inch long pin tucks along the top. This tapering allowed the skirt to flare outward down its length, giving it an A-line shape. In between each voile panel are the lace insertions which are made of three different laces, all about two inches wide, arranged in different configurations to give the appearance of many different laces of varied widths. At knee height there is a sturdier cotton embroidered lace with vertical slits which originally had a wide silk ribbon woven through it. There were also silk ribbons tied in bows at the bottom of the sleeves (missing).
Gown closes invisibly down the center back in a 22 inch long narrow placket with 14 hook and eye closures.

HCT.2005.22.1

This dress was the high school graduation dress for Nettie Steele Lowry (1891-1971). Nettie graduated from Midway High School in 1911. She was the valedictorian of her class. Nettie was one of eight children. Her father, Conrad Steele (1854-1945) was a blacksmith. He is the only blacksmith in the Midway, Ohio in 1875. Nettie married Kyle Hull Lowry (1889-1949) shortly after graduation on March 18, 1912. Kyle worked as a farmer but later worked as a life insurance salesman.

Set-in-Sleeve, Hourglass Silhouette

fiber content=Cotton

1910-1919

White