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Empire-style Wedding Gown
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| Accession #: | 2102.1 |
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| Title: | Empire-style Wedding Gown |
| Object Type: | Dress; Dress, Wedding |
| Participants: |
Avery, Thankful (user)
Avery, Thankful (user)
Lester, Cynthia (Avery) (user)
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| Physical Description: | Lemon colored, brocaded French silk dress. Heavy, durable fabric with brocaded pattern of flowers, leaves, and vines in dark green, medium- yellow-green, dark and light brown, dark and light blue, beige to orange, and dark red. A small line of lace peeks out of the bodice and trails inside the bodice down to the waist. Pleats in the bodice front and back gather at the top of the empire waistline. Three hooks fasten the dress in the back. Short sleeves. With small pleats to create a poof. Dress skirt falls straight; back of skirt is more full and pleated. |
| Description: | Thankful Avery of Groton, Connecticut was married in 1734, dressed in a lemon-colored, brocaded silk dress. The brocade was one of three fabric lengths brought from Paris by the captain of a merchant vessel whose his wife chose a lemon-colored brocade. Thankful's older sister chose a lavender brocade, and Thankful received the remaining lemon-colored fabric. It's possible that the two sisters were married on the same date. Thankful Avery's daughter, also named Thankful, wore the dress when she married Elihu Avery. Next, the Avery's daughter, Cynthia, altered the dress to conform to the fashion of that day, and wore it to marry Ebenezer Lester. Cynthia also wore the dress to George Washington's Inaugural Ball in March, 1789. The dress, unaltered since then, remained in the Avery family. Alexandria ("Lexie") Mead, daughter of Alexander and Louise (Avery) Mead, wore the gown for her October, 1913 wedding to H. N. Stronach. Her bridal veil, of a very rare thread lace, is now in the Smithsonian Institution collection, along with a photo of Mrs. Stronach as a bride. Big skirts and corseted waistlines prevailed from 1600-1900, but the loose, revealing Empire-style, born from the French Revolution (1789-1799) briefly appeared late in the century. Cynthia's dress was probably originally styled like a robe a la française fashionable between 1730 and 1760. |
| Category: | Textiles |
| Subjects/Topics/Concepts: |
Marriage (Communication->Ceremonial); Women (Women); Clothing (Personal Artifact)
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| Geographical Reference: | Cheney (Washington->Spokane County) |
| Dimensions: |
shoulders 13 3/4"
waist 27 15/16"
sleeve length 10 1/4"
skirt length 41 3/4"
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| Materials/Techniques: |
empire waistline (Style)
silk brocade (Material)
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| Related Exhibits: | |
| Credit Line: | Gift of Mrs. H. N. Stronach, 1972 |
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https://www.northwestmuseum.org/collections