1910's White Lawn "Graduation" Dress

This dress is the smallest of the entire display. It also lacks a display card, so all that I know about it comes from the museum docent. I was told this white lawn dress was worn to a high school graduation. This gown, even for an adolescent, is incredibly tiny; it measures B 28", W 26", Hip 32".

This description correlates with the style of gown: these white cotton, batiste, or lawn dresses, often embroidered or decorated with lace or crochet, were typically worn in the warm summer months. This style of dress, known as a lingerie dress, were the ultimate of frilly Edwardian femininity. A frothy vision in white lace, this style of dress allowed a woman to escape some of the heavy layers worn under other garments. Worn to tea, lawn parties, picnics, and graduations, these dresses allowed women to keep cool and fashionable. Called lingerie dresses due to their resemblance of the fantastically lacy undergarments of the Edwardian period, they were very popular in their time.

These flounces cleverly accentuate a petite bust.

Do you see that? At the bottom of the photo...?

Perhaps the worst offender of this whole display!!! Dirty, ill-fitting, an downright ugly shoes!! Yard sales sell tons of shoes with vintage-esque shapes or colors...why choose this?!

Because of its unusually small measurements (I thought I was woefully under-endowed, but a 28" bust is incredible!) this dress is going to be displayed on a dress form carved down to the right measurements. This itty-bitty summer frock at one point was squeezed onto a modern mannequin--this caused (naturally) plenty of tears to an otherwise stable fabric. Unlike silks, cottons tend to last longer--they are more stable and resilient, and this is why often, a silk bodice or skirt will be in tatters while the cotton lining is strong and intact.

Poor and sloppy repair to a tear along the back button placket.

If you notice, the lace insertion has a clover pattern, possibly a nod to the Irish heritage of Kearny.

There must have been some insane pressure applied to the back of this dress, for it to have acquired all of these tears on an otherwise stable fabric.

This dress needed some proper undergarments. On the mannequin, it had a camisole and a long skirt slip, both of which were too modern, rather dirty, and didn't give the right shape to the dress. I made a proper petticoat which will be dual purpose: it will support the dress and give it the proper shape, and it will also protect the hem of the dress from sweeping up against the dirty floor.

I was able to coax the bendable arms and fingers to "hold" the dress, reducing the often static quality of dress forms.

After 3 attempts at carving down the dress form to this teeny proportions, I realized it was impossible to a degree because of the brackets holding in the arms--so I cut my losses and just pinned down the opening to help keep the dress secure. Note that all of the original buttons are missing. From here, you can also kind of see the S-curved shape from corsets of that era.

I think the bust of this dress has been stretched out from that awful mannequin, and that's why there's so much awkward fullness above the waist.

The petticoat really does help hold out the skirt of the dress and also helps highlight the lovely lace insertion!

The final display--I switched the position of these two garments, as the band uniform was becoming faded from the sun from that window. I am working on fixing those blinds to properly cover the window.

Overall, I think this display has exponentially improved, and the full glory of this lovely gown can now truly be admired!