Maine Memory Network

This two-piece silk satin weave ensemble is a classic example of the full gigot fashion. A matching capelet called a pereline, fits over the dress, held in place by a belt. The ensemble’s deep purple silk was expensive, probably dyed with imported logwood and other natural substances used for purple coloring before the advent of chemical dyes. This garment pre-dates the earliest experimental chemical dyes by more than twenty years. William Perkins of England extracted mauve, the first coal tar dye in 1856, but it took decades before the chemical dye industry was established.

Associated with the Leavitt Family, likely Harriet Lamphrey Leavitt (1802-1840), the purple fabric is a testament to the family’s success in the merchant trades. Eastport’s active seaport likely influenced the trend-conscious design, as fashion spread through trade and travel. Vessels into Eastport increased by 800% between 1830 and 1833, largely due to new favorable British shipping terms. This influx likely impacted Eastport society in several ways, including fashion.

In the early 1830s, Anna Marie (Maltbyde) St. Felix (1798-1869) lived in Brooklyn, New York. Originally from Philadelphia, Madame St. Felix socialized in wealthy circles, as evidenced by her extravagant wardrobe. The very large balloon-shaped sleeves are in the demi-gigot style, most popular in the early 1830s. To maintain the desired fullness, women fastened cushions, known as plumpers, to the top of the inside shoulder, like a shoulder pad.

Madame St. Felix’s granddaughter Julia St. Felix Thaxter of Portland gifted the dress to the collection in 1924, during an era when MHS collected widely, rather than Maine specific. There is no evidence Madame St. Felix or her aristocratic husband Jean Reynaud de St. Felix, a Haitian-born settler-colonialist, ever lived in Maine. While the dress lacks a strong Maine provenance, it is an excellent period example.

Attributed to Maine artist William Matthew Prior, this portrait of Ann (Merrill) Staples of Portland illustrates the demi-gigot sleeve’s prevalence in Maine. The extremely large sleeve, sloped neckline, and belted waist, along with Mrs. Staples’ dress, jewelry, and hair style are all classic examples of 1830s fashions.

Both Mrs. Staples and Madame St. Felix’s (exhibited in the previous slide) demi-gigot dresses feature fan front bodice pleating. However, the St. Felix dress neckline is more modest, perhaps designed for daywear, or the Madame’s preference. The broad, sloped neckline on the Staples dress is more indicative of period fashion. Note how the fullness starts off-the-shoulder, which emphasizes a sloped effect and evokes romantic ideals of a delicate feminine figure.

Ann Cascoline Merrill (1815-1896) was the daughter of Joseph Merrill and Abigail Matilda Pope. In 1832, Anne married Ai Staples, a highly successful Portland grocer and merchant. The family relocated to Augusta around 1840.

An alternate version of the demi-gigot style, this dress includes smaller mid-arm puffs. The demi-gigot’s fullness deflated as the fashion trend progressed. Mercy Owen Richardson (1810-1884) was a cousin of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Provenance states this was her wedding dress when she married Edward Richardson at the Portland Unitarian Church (First Parish Church) in 1832. However, the reduced puff gigot style dates this dress closer to 1834, although it may simply capture an early adoption of smaller demi-gigot fashions.

The moiré silk fabric (treated silk with a wavey pattern, also called watered silk) remains poplar for wedding dresses. Featuring a small raised woven floral motif pattern, this fabric is also called figured silk.

Elsa Richardson Proctor donated her great-grandmother Mercy Owen Richardson's dress to Maine Historical Society. Ms. Proctor also donated a circa 1897 photograph of her aunt Margaret dressed in the gown.

Likely worn by Harriet Lamphrey Leavitt (1802-1840), this brown printed cotton dress demonstrates the gigot sleeve during the trend’s final years. By 1837, the gigot puffs deflated or moved to the lower arm, a look that lingered and competed with the 1840s straight sleeve style. A pointed waist bodice helps date the dress closer to 1840. The dress may be worn with or without its matching pereline (capelet).

As of 2022, cotton dresses are less prevalent in the Maine Historical Society collection, perhaps not surviving after years of wear or updating. Despite being less represented, cotton was an extremely important fabric for Maine fashion during the 1830s.

The American South dramatically increased cotton production during the period, supplying both national and international markets. Maine author Joseph Ingraham Holt (1809-1860) famously described the influence of cotton for Northern markets and its reliance on the institution of slavery in his in his work Southwest by a Yankee published in 1835.