Brown and black striped silk moiré bodice and skirt

Born enslaved in Alabama, Louvinia Price (1857–1934) worked as a dressmaker after gaining her freedom. This silk moiré ensemble is believed to have been made by Price for an employer, who later returned it to her. Lucy Cordice, also a designer and dressmaker, inherited it from Price, her grandmother.

A brown and black striped silk moiré women’s day ensemble consisting of a bodice and skirt. The bodice (a) is made of brown and black striped silk moiré faille and has dropped shoulders. The bodice’s round neckline and armscye seams are piped, and a band of cotton lace is hand-stitched to the neckline. The piped neckline is encased with black silk crepeline. The bodice’s lace collar and undersleeves were later additions likely added in the 1900s. The bias-cut sleeves are a bell-shaped variation and are three quarter length. Hand-stitched to the sleeves’ bottom edges are plain weave cotton undersleeves embellished with lace insertions. The bodice opens at the center front with eleven black shank buttons. A seven-inch dart is sewn to each side below the bust. The front of the bodice ends in a deep point at the center front. The bodice’s bottom edge is trimmed with black passementerie embellished with thread-covered wooden beads and black glass beads at the ends. The bodice’s proper right and proper left sides were both let out with two triangular fabric panels. One panel is the same black and brown striped silk moiré faille used for the bodice, and the other is a black silk taffeta. These panels are lined with black synthetic fabric with pinked edges. To accommodate this size alteration, a triangular gusset of black silk taffeta is inserted at each sleeve’s underarm. The front of the bodice is constructed of four panels and the back is made of three. The center back panel curves in and down from the armscyes to a narrow shape at the waist which is joined to two curved side panels. The center back is constructed with a self-fabric pointed tail that has its two corners folded inwards and tacked down. Two adhesive repairs for splitting silk are applied to the center back of the bodice. The bodice is lined with light-brown glazed cotton. The panels are machine-stitched together with black thread. The sleeves are lined with cream cotton. At the center front opening’s proper right side near the waistline, there is a short bone covered in brown cotton twill. The bodice’s center front point is lined with brown silk, as is the center back tail.

The matching skirt (b) is made of brown and black striped silk moiré faille. It has a one-inch waistband which closes at front with a single metal hook and eye. The waistband is hand sewn to the skirt and is made of black silk. The skirt was extensively altered multiple times. The center front of the skirt now has a center front opening at the waistband, and its placket does not fasten. The center front seam is a later construction alteration as indicated by the fabric’s edges being loosely basted together. Three large box pleats are sewn to the back of the skirt below the waistband. The center back box pleat is four inches wide with a knife pleat at the proper right side and two knife pleats on the proper left side. The proper right and left box pleats have one knife pleat on each side. The skirt has a three-and-a-half-inch single fold hem which is likely not original to its construction. The hem is basted to the interior with double-strand thread. The skirt’s raw edge is encased with a trim of black velvet. Below this trim, there is an old fold line that likely indicates the original hem’s fold. An eight-inch-wide band of glazed cotton is sewn to the bottom of the skirt. An inseam pocket is sewn to the proper right side made of brown cotton.