Ahah!

Weird sleeves possibly explained!:

Name: dress, woman’s

Maker Role: dressmaker

Maker: not known

Made: England, Circa 1830-Circa 1840, Late 1860s (Queen Victoria (1837 – 1901)/English reign)

Media: silk

Object Category: textile

Those sleeves do not belong!!!! And in person it is even more striking because the peplum is slightly bustled c1867ish, which matches almost everything else, but the sleeves have self piping on the top seam so the shape is really really pronounced and rigid. Actually my first thought was Amidala Kimono, it is that pronounced!

I think my photos are blurry, but I don’t think the plaque mentioned this double dating. It was hard to get to due to the placement of the sensors that would tell us to step away from the exhibit 😉

Still not sure how the bodice came to be so perfectly shaped for the 1860s but the sleeves didn’t get altered but hey.. (click on zoom and you can see the piping at the armscye and the velvet trim falling of the left wrist). So it may be possible the sleeves got cut back a bit but not fully? Really not sure. It’s.. quirky.

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