An 1880s Cotton Print Bustle Dress

This article originally appeared on Your Wardrobe Unlock'd.

The scaled pattern for the dress is at the end of the article.

Museums are full of inspiring, elaborate, exquisite dresses. But what about dresses of a more everyday variety? We see plenty of these in Victorian photos, but there’s much less of a chance to see them and their construction in person. Or the on the internet, for that matter!


Hopefully, this dress will be of help in the area of everyday clothes. It’s a complete—or nearly complete—bustle dress from the 1880s. It’s well worn, as the repairs, loose stitches, and general wear marks show, and made of an easy to take care of cotton fabric. Though well made, it lacks some of the finer details of dresses that have made it into museums—there is nothing about this dress that puts it out of the range of capability of the typical seamstress or costumer.

A Pink Evening Bodice from the 1880s

One bodice in my collection is an evening bodice from the 1880s. It has a V neck, points at both the front and back waists, and the back is cut to accommodate a bustle. The bodice has four pieces—front, side front, side back, and back—on each side, for a total of eight pieces. This allows for a very smooth fit.

For more and full size pictures of this bodice, here's the Flickr set on the new (sigh) Flickr!

This article originally appeared on Your Wardrobe Unlockd and I presented it at Costume College.