Long early 20th century cotton nightgown

A very long nightgown from the last decade of the 19th century or the first two decades of the 20th century, in sturdy cotton with a pintucked shaped from and an embroidered neckline and cuffs. This does up with mother-of-pearl buttons, and the front opening is quite deep. The embroidered cuffs seem to have been constructed so that they fold over to display the embroidery on the right side. The high square neckline has a shallow hand-embroidered scallop running all the way around plus a border of embroidered staggered polka dots. The sleeves have been gathered at the shoulderline to make a very slight puff.

This is in perfect condition, which is remarkable considering how old it is. It was probably put into a trousseau trunk and then never used (one thing I think often happened is that trousseaux were collected, either made by the bride-to-be and her family members if the family was poor, or purchased from professional tailors and embroiderers if the family was better off, as was probably the case with this piece, and then the new bride fell pregnant almost immediately and all the pretty underwear and night-things got left in the trousseau trunk and stayed there forever!)

It measures 65cm from armpit to armpit lying flat - be aware the sleeves are inset - and is 128cm long. It looks amazing on - the mannequin doesn’t do it justice. On a human body the tucking at the front shapes this like a bodice. Be aware that despite the large chest measurement, this is probably closest to a French size 38-42.

Please click on the photos to open up full-sized.

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