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Description: Bodice, c.1870-1875. Olive green silk shot with purple, with purple brocade, ribbon, and cotton twill piping. Buttons down centre front, high neck, long sleeves, cuirass design. The stand collar is fairly small, with a close neckline. It is made of a mauve silk brocade with a pattern of tiny purple ovals. There is a panel of this fabric that goes down the centre front and centre back from the shoulders to the hem, separated from the main fabric by purple twill piping. At the centre front, the bodice also closes from top to bottom with twelve buttons covered in mauve fabric with a brocade flower and a hook and eye at the collar. At the centre back there is another line of purple piping, and there is a self fabric covered button on each outside line of piping at the waist level. The rest of the front and back bodice is made of the olive and purple shot silk, with two darts at each side front. The armscyes are sewn with purple piping, and the sleeves are made in the olive and purple shot silk. At the cuffs, there is a band edged in purple piping and trimmed with a mauve ribbon bow. Beneath this there are two tiers of pleated ruffle in the mauve brocade. At the hem of the bodice, there is a double row of purple piping. The bodice is lined in brown linen. It has short bones in each front dart, and one in each side seam. The section below the waist is lined in purple china silk.