Afternoon dress
Unknown Artist
1883
Medium
Wool, silk
Classification
Afternoon dress
Culture
American
Department
Costume Institute
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Gertrude M. Paulsen, 1952
Accession Number
2009.300.6727a, b
Art Historical Context
Step into the opulent world of 188s America with this exquisite *Afternoon Dress*, crafted 1883 from wool and. Produced by an unknown American maker, it captures the refined elegance of the Gilded Age, when fashion served as a key marker of social status and leisure. Afternoon dresses like this were designed for daytime social calls, teas, and outings, blending practicality with sophistication. The choice of wool—durable and structured—and lustrous silk underscores the era's textile innovations and transatlantic influences, as American designers drew from European couture while adapting to lo...