Dress #122: Victorian day dress in purple

This hand-stitched paper dress is based on a day dress from the early 1880s; the original was offered for sale by Augusta Auctions in 2022. The fabric was dyed with mauveine, one of the first synthetic dyes. Mauveine, also known as aniline purple and Perkin's mauve, was discovered accidentally by William Henry Perkins in 1856 in an attempt to synthesize quinine, which is used in the treatment of malaria.

The dress is six inches tall, stitched by hand on 8x10 inch 100% cotton watercolour paper, which means that it will pop right into any commercial frame in that size, and be ready to hang on your wall.

Materials: Japanese paper, glass beads, and cotton floss on cotton paper; 24.5 x 20.3 cm (10 x 8")