Processing an 1880s Velvet Skirt

For the past three years, the Maryland Historical Society has been relocating the costume collection from the historic Pratt House to new textile storage rooms. The rehousing project allows us to reexamine and learn more about the collection. Although I have worked with museum collections before, this is my first experience with textiles, so I have a lot to learn!

This girl’s navy velvet skirt with attached bodice is one of the objects we’ve processed so far this summer. After freezing the skirt and its box-mates to terminate any potential insect presence, we took the garments to MdHS’ new storage facility to begin examining them.

Accession number. Now, we sew on separate labels instead of writing directly on the garments.

First, I looked for the skirt’s accession number, which was written on the inside lining near the neck opening. Every object at MdHS has a unique number identifying it. Looking up the number in the card catalog tells us that the skirt likely dates to the mid-1880s and that Elizabeth Reese Latrobe donated it to the Society in 1971.

The full, pleated skirt is navy velvet, with a starched linen lining. The attached bodice is gray-brown corded silk with a lighter brown cotton lining. The bodice flares from the shoulders down to the wearer’s hips, opens in front, and fastens with small horn buttons. When the wearer was fully dressed, the bodice would have been hidden under a jacket, likely in velvet to match the skirt. There are two small holes at the collar along the shoulder seams, where the bodice likely rubbed against an upper layer of clothing. A dart added to the wearer’s left side has come undone, and there are some small tears in the skirt.

After vacuuming the garment to remove loose dirt and dust, I was ready to rehouse it. The velvet skirt is heavier than the bodice and the dart that split is near the waist, so hanging the garment would have put too much stress on the waist seam. After padding the skirt with tissue paper rolls to prevent creasing, I folded and boxed it.

Looking closely at the skirt and reading its catalog information gave us clues about its life before being donated to the museum. Velvet and corded silk are expensive fabrics not designed for physical work. The girl who wore this skirt might have saved it for special occasions, or she might have worn it more casually, communicating her family’s social status. Now that the skirt is in the new storage facility, researchers will be able to learn more about it and its wearer for years to come.

1971.66.14 Gift of Mrs. Gamble Latrobe, Jr.