Bustling in the New Year

From  the seller:

This lovely gown is from the 1880's and has a large bustle back. It is an evening dress made of heavy salmon silk satin and french silk brocade. It is a larger size for the period and displays nicely but does have issues. The waist of the skirt is 31 inches. Part of the waist band is missing and I have pinned some of the pleats in place to photograph the dress. There is wear at the top of the fabric of the skirt which will need to be trimmed a little when the new waist band is made. The length of the front of the skirt is approximately 40 inches. The lining is a combination of silk and cotton and is in sound condition. There is a silk ruffle on the back of the slip that will need to be sewn back in place. There is a 5 inch tear on the right back side of the skirt and quite a bit of wear and some shattering at the bottom part of the train. See photos. The train is long enough to turn under a part of it to hide the damage on the edge. The bodice has a bust of 38 and a waist of 32. The bodice lining is made of polished cotton and is in good condition. Both sleeve linings have tears in the linings. This doesn't show when the dress is on display. There is wear and some splitting to the bodice silk and wear to the back neck piece. I would not recommend wearing this gown but with some work it would make a great display. The wear to the silk would not be visible in soft museum lighting. For those of you who are dressing antique dolls most of the fabric is still soft and supple. The french brocade is wonderful. The fabric is appropriate for fine French dolls such as Jumeau and Steiners.

From Me:

Why oh why would you even think of taking this dress apart for antique dolls?!? Seriously, seller, get your priorities straight!

This is a lovely larger example of a bustle dress, hence the pun in the title. :-) Remember, this was worn with a corset so the lady that wore this dress would probably be around a modern size 16 or 18.

Happy New Year! I'll be posting colorful dresses today. :-)