Black silk dress with crepe overlay and embroidery

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 black silk dress with crepe overlay and embroidered applique. The front bust is composed of two panels (right and left) of machine embroidered black floral applique that has been handstitched to a layer of black silk crepe. Each applique panel has a pleated crepe sewn around its edges. There are two layers of closures at the front bust. The outermost layer of floral applique has no closure and overlaps at the center front. The second layer of black synthetic net features four metal hook closures (originally five) and five metal eyes. The innermost layer of black silk taffeta features nine metal hook and eye closures, handsewn down the center front. Each sleeve is composed of one piece of silk black crepe that has black embroidered floral applique near the elbow.

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