aprillikesthings:

lookingbackatfashionhistory:

• Evening Gown.
Date: 1854-56
Medium: Silk jacquard taffeta, silk taffeta, silk tulle, lace, baleen.

hey @seams-unusualpdx look: this dress’s edges are RAW. All over the dress!! Unless I’m missing something?? They were cut with a fancy edge and left like that, except for the very bottom hem underneath?

I mean I know fabric was tighter-woven then, and something like this would rarely if ever have been submerged in water and agitated, but still. How did it not fray at all? Was it starched or something?!

pinking fabric tends to keep it from fraying away better than a straight cut, so maybe the scalloping is acting like a super fancy pinking  edge? I’m just guessing though. If anyone has a real answer I’m curious too.