This light blue c. 1880s dress was donated to our museum in 2011 by Alison Warner Pyne. Alison Warner married Percy R. Pyne IV in 1975. She grew up in New Canaan and attended New Canaan Country School. The blue gown was donated by her to our museum in 2011 and most likely belonged to a relative and was passed down through the family.

The gown identifies as an 1880s gown due to several distinguishing factors. First, the short bodice which ends naturally at the hip, as opposed to coming down over the hip which was much more popular in the 1870s. During the day, hemlines fell just above the floor, and the skirts were gathered in the back to create bustles. Bustles in the late 1870s were soft and sloping, before morphing into the rigidly structured shelf-like protrusion that manifested in the mid to late 1880s, possibly placing this blue dress in the earlier half of the decade.

One notable thing about this dress is the beadwork on the front panel of the skirt, which stops curiously short of the bodice. This is perhaps to stop the beads from wear and tear as the torso moves around. It is also possible that the original dress came with a third piece- a swag or additional draping piece- which were extremely popular embellishments on 1880s garments. However a closer investigation would be needed to prove or dispel this theory based on evidence of threads or holes in the garment where such a piece could have been attached. It is also uncommon for a lace-up front to be exposed, as fashion plates from the period often show if a garment did have a front closure, it was usually covered with decorative trim, or else fashionable buttons were used.