This delightfully feminin day dress is the prize of the Institute's collection!
The brocaded silk taffetta used to make this dress was woven by Anna Marie Garthwaite in Spitalfields-Lords, England in 1742. The dress was first worn by Christina Ten Broeck Livingston (1718-1801). It remained in the family and was remade into a day dress sometime around 1840.
According to the Metroland review of the exhibit, there are only three known garments made of the same 250-year-old fabric in existence today.