REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1914. 29 



the material of which was made in China. The skirt is cut straight 

 and slightly pleated. The waist, which is quite low in the neck, has 

 very short sleeves and a postilion back, A point lace cape covers the 

 shoulders. The dress of Mrs. Rutherford B. Haj^es is the one in 

 which she appears in the portrait by Daniel Huntington now in the 

 White House, and was first worn at one of her public receptions. 

 It is of garnet velvet. The bodice has silk panels, a postilion back, 

 tight sleeves, and lace collar and cuffs. Passementerie and brocade 

 panels hang on either hip, and the train is of silk trimmed with 

 strips of velvet. Mrs. Benjamin Harrison is shown in a rich gown, 

 a combination of yellow satin and magenta brocade, with a sweeping 

 train. The bodice has a V-shape neck and elbow sleeves. The side 

 front of the gown is a panel of yellow satin, embroidered with gold 

 passementerie. A gold cord edges the bodice and falls down in 

 front terminating in tassels. 



The dress of Mrs. William McKinley is of cream satin, with a 

 long, full train. The high-necked waist is decorated with pearl pas- 

 sementerie, and the sleeves are of the mousquetaire style. The front 

 panel of the skirt is embroidered in pearls and brilliants, and bor- 

 dered on each side by deep d'Alengon lace, the hem being slashed 

 into lappets edged with tulle. The high laced boots are of the same 

 material and are embroidered to match. This costume was worn by 

 Mrs. McKinley at the inaugural ball of March 4, 1901. The most 

 recent of the costumes is the inaugural gown of Mrs. William H. 

 Taft, a splendid creation of chiffon, embroidered in white floss, 

 rhinestones, and silver crystal beads. It is low cut, with short 

 sleeves, and has a very long, full train. 



For dresses other than those in the White House series, four of 

 the alcove and three of the single lay figure cases are now being used. 

 Earliest in date of the apparel here displayed is a quaint colonial 

 gown which belonged to Mrs. Cornelius Wyncoop as early as 1760. 

 Following is a dress worn by the wife of Capt. Miles King, of the 

 Revolutionary Army and later mayor of Norfolk, at a ball given to 

 Lafaj'ette, at Norfolk, Va., and another beautiful silk brocade of 

 the same period. Especially notable is a golden-yellow robe made 

 about 1784 for Mrs. Eliza Lucas Pinckney, one of the most distin- 

 guished of South Carolina women, the wife of Colonial Chief Justice 

 Charles Pinckney and the mother of Gen. Thomas Pinckney. It 

 was she who introduced indigo culture into the State, and the 

 material of this dress was the product of her own plantation, as she 

 raised the silkworms and the silk was spun by her maids. The 

 weaving of the beautiful brocade was, however, done in England, 

 and there was enough material for three dresses, two of which were 

 presented to notable personages of the mother country. 



