c. 1885

Woman's Dress with Dinner and Evening Bodices

This winter dinner dress was worn by Mrs. Charles G. Roebling of Trenton, whose husband, a philanthropist and engineer, was the son of John A. Roebling, designer of the Brooklyn Bridge. She married Roebling in 1877 and died ten years later at age thirty-two. It was common practice at the time for good dressmakers to provide their clients with two bodices for each dress: one with long sleeves for informal evening wear and a low-necked, sleeveless version for more formal events.