Wedding Gown with Waist Drape, between 1915-1920

A wedding gown with a waist drape. The bodice has three layers: bottom layer consists of ornate copper threads on ivory satin fabric (originally part of another garment made approximately ten years earlier); the middle layer is silk, and the top layer is silk jacquard. From the waist down, there are two layers: bottom layer is a fine thin silk underlay and the top layer is an off-white silk jacquard overdress. There are capped chiffon sleeves and a cotton petersham waistband that also serves to attach much of the gathering of the waist drape. The dress has an added drape (additional panel of fabric) that begins at the gathered waist on the left side and wraps around the back of the dress and ends over the right front leg in a series of attached drapes. A separate piece of silk jacquard, lined in off-white silk with one end angularly cut, has a silk ribbon attached on the lined side. The angular edge of the separate piece of silk would hang over the shoulder and the remainder would drape over the back. Originally belonged to Sophie Miller Peterman.