The dress, worn in Toronto about 1894, is made of heavy ribbed silk trimmed with velvet and beaded embroidery. It shows the stylish silhouette of the mid-1890s when women tried, by tight corsetting, to have an eighteen-inch waist. Very few achieved this but large sleeves helped to give the illusion of a small waist. The heavily boned bodice opens down the front, where the right half overlaps the left half, and fastens with concealed hooks and eyes. The skirt is gored and falls in pleats at the back. The dress has a matching high-collared yoke, which fits inside the neckline, and a pair of wrist-length sleeves to tack under the puffed sleeves. We have now seen this kind of alternating day and evening dress occurring throughout the century. The dress was made by Wm. Stitt and Company, one of the two best dressmakers in Toronto. The other was O'Brien's who also did fine tailoring.
The tweed suit shows the leg-o'mutton sleeve of the mid-1890s. Jackets like this one, with no closing, were called blazers. The gored skirt has pleats at the back to give fullness there. The suit is trimmed with silk braid. It was worn with a mannish, high collared blouse, a bow tie, and wide belt. A final touch would have been a jaunty little hat, perhaps a flat-crowned straw, like a man's but smaller.
