Printed floral skirt worn by Lucy Lee Shirley as a child

Object Details

Created by

Unidentified

Worn by

Lucy Lee Shirley, American, 1855 - 1929

Subject of

Black Fashion Museum, American, 1979 - 2007

Description

A child's circular skirt in a floral print with a pleated flounce on the hem. The main fabric is a plain weave natural fiber fabric with a cream ground and a repeating pattern of small four-petal flowers in red, purple, blue, and tan. The skirt is predominantly hand-sewn. It has a waistband made from an undyed bast fiber fabric with the floral print gathered and whip stitched to the waistband. The skirt is more closely gathered on the back. There is a slit at the center back that divides the waistband completely. There is no attached closure method, but rust staining at the back opening of the waistband suggests the skirt was pinned to close. The bottom of the skirt has an extra flounce of the floral print that has a series of pleats around the skirt in sets of three alternating with straight sections. This flounce is machine-sewn at the top and 1 1/2 inches from the bottom using blue thread that is possibly a synthetic fiber. The bottom and top edges of the flounce are bound with blue fabric sewn on the bias. The interior of the skirt is lined only behind the extra flounce with a hand-pinked undyed bast fiber fabric. There is a previous repair on the back proper right side of the skirt where a panel of light brown synthetic fabric is hand sewn on the interior of the skirt from the gathering at the waist to the top of the older linen lining on the bottom.

Credit Line

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Black Fashion Museum founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane

ca. 1860

Object number

2007.3.5

Restrictions & Rights

No Known Copyright Restrictions

Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

Type

skirts

Medium

bast fiber, wool textile, and synthetic fiber

Dimensions

H x W (Flat): 18 × 33 1/2 in. (45.7 × 85.1 cm)

Waist: 24 1/2 in. (62.2 cm)

Place used

Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States, North and Central America

See more items in

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Collection title

Black Fashion Museum Collection

Classification

Slavery and Freedom Objects

Clothing-Historical

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Topic

African American

Children

Clothing and dress

Slavery

Record ID

nmaahc_2007.3.5

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5a0cf9279-424d-4c73-8d3e-82da3b5c1bd5