c. 1885

Woman's Evening Dress: Bodice and Skirt

After her death in 1906, Irish-born Catherine Donovan was described by the New York Times as "the pioneer dressmaker of the 400," for dressing New York's social elite known as the "400." She owned a building on Madison Avenue at 40th Street, where she sold imported gowns from leading Paris couturiers such as Charles Frederick Worth and Emile Pingat. At least once, her employees' baggage was seized at U.S. customs on suspicion of smuggling. It was common practice for seized goods to be auctioned publicly, and in 1893 over five hundred people attended an auction of Worth, Pingat, and other gowns seized from Donovan. This evening dress looks to France for inspiration, combining references to the late seventeenth century in its silhouette based on the mantua (loose gown worn as a robe or overdress) and to the late eighteenth century for the striped silk design.