Train for a ball gown

Charles Conder, who created the watercolour design, is known to have painted decorations on silk dresses, often while the wearer was wearing the garment.

Unfortunately we know very little about this train. What we can say is that it probably dates from around 1903 and was done for Mrs Florence Humphrey, an enthusiastic attender of fancy dress balls. By the late 1890s the 'new reform dress' was becoming more popular. This did away with the corset in favour of a Princess-type dress which hung from the shoulders without a waistline with long, full sleeves and sometimes with a train that fell from the shoulders. The train is perhaps best described as an extreme example of the demand for Conder's watercolour decorations favoured by wealthy and fashionable women.