Dress

White Indian muslin evening dress embroidered with vertical bands of leaf and stem pattern in white cotton worked in chain stitch. The dress is in the columnar neo-Classical style fashionable from the very late 18th century through the early 19th century. The high waistline came to be called the 'Empire' line after the styles became popular during the French Napoleonic empire. This dress was donated to the museum by the dress historian Norah Waugh.

The fabric was imported to England from India, probably by the East India Company. Bengal in northern India was a major centre for the manufacture of fine muslin. Such dresses were often worn with cashmere shawls decorated with paisley designs, originally woven in Kashmir in north-west India. Later in the nineteenth century British weavers became better at imitating the fine cottons produced in India, and eventually these could be produced more cheaply. They became more widely available and replaced the Indian-made cottons.

The dress has a wide round neck with the bodice front made in one section seamed at the waist to a falling skirt front. It has a drawstring at the top edge to control the fit and gathers. The back is in one section, with side backs made continuous with the side fronts. A linen lining continuing as front flaps fastens under the bodice front, providing support and opacity for the thin fabric. The short sleeves are made in one section and gathered to shoulder. The straight skirt is made of three lengths of fabric closely gathered to waist at the centre back. There are deep pintucked bands running horizontally around the hem, and the ends of the sleeves.