fancy dress outfit

Summary

Fancy dress outfit using remade/recycled 18th century Indian block-printed cotton for the Western export market (1740s-50s) with bold floral design. Probably Coromandel coast for the Dutch market. Costume is made as an open robe with separate pettitcoat and shows deliberate allusions to both the polonaise style (with inner loops) and sack back. Possibly worn for a calico ball in the 1880s. The cotton is similar to that used in a man's banyan in the Mulhouse collections (MISE 993.7.17) There are additional pieces of cotton left over from the alteration, showing piecemeal bodice form.