Fig Leaf Patterns Surplice Dress c1810
This simple dress attests to American women’s ability to keep up with European fashions, while modifying them to suit simpler middle-class American taste and budgets--and to update garments to remain fashionable. The Fig leaf Patterns Surplice Dress c1810 should be constructed with a cheerful print of good quality, but modest cost, with a fashionable crossover (surplice) bodice, apron front skirt, and a small flounce. Hem accents appeared late in the first decade of the 1800's and increased in volume and complexity as skirts began to widen after 1810. This dress’ relatively narrow skirt (84 inch hem circumference) may place its current construction closer to 1810.
This Fig leaf Patterns Surplice Dress c1810 pattern was taken from an extant example in a private collection, but featured in the DAR exhibit "An Agreeable Tyrant". We had an opportunity to examine the garment and duplicate the scale of the print as well as the fineness of the original textile.
