Printed floral skirt worn by Lucy Lee Shirley as a child

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A child's circular skirt in a floral print with a pleated flounce on the hem. The main fabric is a plain weave natural fiber fabric with a cream ground and a repeating pattern of small four-petal flowers in red, purple, blue, and tan. The skirt is predominantly hand-sewn. It has a waistband made from an undyed bast fiber fabric with the floral print gathered and whip stitched to the waistband. The skirt is more closely gathered on the back. There is a slit at the center back that divides the waistband completely. There is no attached closure method, but rust staining at the back opening of the waistband suggests the skirt was pinned to close. The bottom of the skirt has an extra flounce of the floral print that has a series of pleats around the skirt in sets of three alternating with straight sections.

Explore Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture ↗