gown, evening
Object
Accession Number
2010.001Description
White satin background with applied designs vine and leaf-like in gold thread; three-quarter length sleeves with ecru coloured lace attached to the end; long a-line style with a long trailing hem line.Narrative
This evening gown was created by Madame Felix, 30 Maddox St, London W., as indicated on the inside waist band. Madame Felix was a 'court dressmaker' meaning that from her studio, fashionable clothes for the social season and formal dress for presentation at the Court of St. James's were made to order for ladies with significant income and lavish ideas about their personal style.Maddox Street is located in the Mayfair area of London, and Madame Felix was located above a tailor's shop, just around the corner from St. George's, Hanover Square. This church was the site of many society weddings, including Bessie Dunsmuir's marriage in 1904 to John Hope. Bessie was a granddaughter of Robert and Joan Dunsmuir.
Many fashionable court tailors and dressmakers were located on Maddox Street.
History of Use
This dress is said to have belonged to Laura Dunsmuir, (nee Surles) 1858-1937, wife of James Dunsmuir and daughter-in-law of Robert and Joan Dunsmuir. The approximate age of the dress (1898-1911) and its styling makes it possible that Laura acquired it during one of the seasons she spent with her daughters in London.Laura Dunsmuir was certainly in London in the summer of 1902, appearing at court and attending the coronation of Edward VII with her husband James Dunsmuir, then premier of British Columbia. His court dress is in the museum collection at Royal Roads University.
The dress was acquired by the Castle Society's president, J.K. Nesbitt in the late 1960s with the understanding that it had once belonged to Laura Dunsmuir. It was stored at the home of Society Board member Inez Mitchell. After Nesbitt's death in 1981, the dress remained at Mitchell's home for some time before being delivered to Craigdarroch Castle.
