Dress

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

While its descending waistline, swelling sleeves, and raised hemline, this splendid day dress anticipates the exaggerated outline of the 1830s. Pleating on the front--beginning at the waist, opening acrosss the bodice, and extending toward the full sleeves--creates the illusion of increased width at the shoulders. The ankle begins its brief decade of exposure, even as the silhouette otherwise assumes a body-concealing mass and modesty.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art