Beautiful Bodice

Beautiful Bodice

By Gabriella Venus

On first viewing of this garment, I was astonished at the overall aesthetic of this beautiful bodice. It is a uniquely cut and stylised bodice to fit a woman’s body. It is chic and unlike the imagery of other Victorian clothing dating from this period. It is full of lustre and sheen.

The floral motif on the lace is elegant, feminine and graceful – reminiscent of the Victorians popular fascination with botany. The peplum hem on the bodice is young, coquettish and another visual example of why this garment feels remarkably contemporary. The vivid green of the silk taffeta that bleeds through the black lace is also striking and unlike other examples I have discovered in online museum collections.

I imagine this bodice with a matching skirt would have been fairly noisy to walk and move in. Studying the garment closely, I think it would have been worn as an evening dress, what could be described now as ‘party wear’. The outlandish green and sumptuous black lace suggest it might have been worn for royal occasions or dinner parties with dancing. If we imagine a matching lime green silk taffeta skirt, the outfit would certainly have made a statement.

Interestingly, in The Dress Detective, Mida and Kim describe another 1890s bodice:-

‘It is noteworthy that the matching skirt to this bodice has not survived. The skirt of the 1890s, with its expansive volume of fabric and relative lack of decoration, could easily have been cut up and used to make a different garment or household object.’ (Mida and Kim, 2019, p.136).

This is very interesting and so pertinent to the bodice and the remnant fabric at The Salisbury Museum. Could it be that the possible remnant pieces from its matching skirt were deliberately cut up to make something new?

Perhaps its versatility in colour, black being a prominent feature, meant that the bodice could be worn with other skirts to create a new ensemble, leaving the skirt to be made into something else.