Habit à la disposition

Habit à la disposition

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

It is extremely rare to have a complete unfinished dress à la disposition, such as this one, in a museum collection. The complex machine-embroidery and hand-stitched seed beads on the unfinished textile lengths assists in comprehending the manufacturing process in the 1870s. The artist's rendering of the completed garment (2009.300.3470), although from a later date, gives an indication of the elegant completed creation.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.