Hi, Lisa - Piping is not an absolute, but it does appear in almost all adult dresses c.1860-1865: in the armscyes for stabilization and strength and at the waistline and neckline as a finishing technique. The curved back seams are usually not piped; what appears to be piping in photographs is topstitching. On a significant number of dresses, this curved back seam is not even a seam - it's a tuck folded into the fabric.
Self-fabric piping is also not an absolute - but the number of extant garments with contrasting piping represent a miniscule amount of surviving garments - possibly just a fraction of a percent of those worn during the period. Examples where I have found contrasting piping: a wrapper c.1861-1863 that used scrap fabric as part of the construction. e.g. collar, belt, cuffs and piping; two evening gowns c.1865-1866 where significantly larger piping was used as a decorative accent; and two children's dresses where contrasting fabric was used as a trimming. In four decades of research and hundreds of original garments - those have been the only examples I've encountered from this era. Contrasting piping does become more common in the post-war era. I've discussed this with other researchers and collectors who focus on this era and their surveys are comparable with mine. The only absolute in American Civil War era dresses is a dropped armscye; there are exceptions to almost every other characteristic. However, contrast piping in adult garments appears to be an aberration rather except in the circumstances I mentioned. As always, YMMV, and I'd enjoy hearing about other examples that I can add to my database. :-) Regards, Carolann Schmitt cschm...@genteelarts.com www.genteelarts.com Ladies & Gentlemen of the 1860s Conference, March 3-6, 2011 _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
