American Fashions – Autumn 1903

This suit blends masculine and feminine elements in its style. Standing in three-quarter view, a red-haired woman models a muted gray or green suit with pink accents. The long skirt and jacket have vertical stitching details, creating a pin stripe effect. The waist length jacket has wide white lapels with a black velvet collar, and she wears a shiny narrow black belt over the short peplum. On the peplum are visible stitched pockets flaps, or possibly, fake pockets suggested by stitching, at the hip.

The sleeves are narrow, ending with three button shaped pink cuffs just below the elbow. Under the jacket, she wears a very high necked green or gray blouse and a shaped pink and green gray vest. Two separate sections of the vest are visible, an upper section of green gray with curved bolero fronts, fastened with three small round white buttons, and a lower pink section reaching from just below the bust line to just below the waist, fastened with four buttons.

At the neck, over the blouse, she wears a pink lace or embroidered scarf, fastened in the center with a small brooch, with the ends tucked under the upper green gray section of the vest, and then allowed to flow loosely over the rest of the pink section of the vest. The skirt is lighter green, gored, and flares out at the hem all around. The skirt features stitching lines on the gores to just above the hem, and a narrow band of darker green around the hem. At the hips are two deeply curved leave shaped over pieces, consisting of a wide band of darker gray green, stitched in lines like the jacket, and a center section of plain green.

She wears a green hat matching her suit, trimmed with a green bow at the back, and pink flowers and bows on the crown. She wears long white gloves, and carries a long black and white ostrich feather boa draped loosely around her hips. At the left is a smaller black and white illustration of the back view of the dress.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges