{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O14003"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O14003/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AU5647/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AU5647/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AU5647","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020MU4699","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O14003/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O14003","accessionNumber":"T.52-1957","objectType":"Wedding dress","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"The journalist Helen Pearl Adam née Humphrey (1882-1957) wore this elegant gown at her wedding to fellow journalist George Adam in 1909. The dress appears to have been remodelled from a late 19th-century evening dress. Unpicking and re-making clothes is part of the history of fashionable dress. Clothes were altered for economic and sometimes sentimental reasons.  In this example the seamstress has skilfully combined late 19th-century and early 20th-century fabrics and trimmings to create a romantic and attractive wedding gown.\r\n\r\nThe design is also inspired by 17th-century costume. The wide bands of cream Italian furnishing lace are in the style of early 17th-century Genoese bobbin lace. They form the extended bib front, collar and sleeve trimmings. Three delicate long tassels hang in a graceful line down the left-hand side of the dress. Tassels were extremely popular at the time. In 1907 The Lady's Realm commented 'cords and tassels, after embroideries, take the foremost place in the world of trimmings'. Fashion periodicals and instruction manuals showed the less well-off how to make their own tassels and motifs in silk or cotton.","physicalDescription":"Wedding dress of a cream chiné silk taffeta printed with a floral design, the bodice, sleeves, and front panel of skirt trimmed with lace. The neckline is rounded in the front and square at the back, with elbow-length puff sleeves, and the bodice and long skirt are gathered to a wide waistband with tabs at the back trimmed with silver buttons. The bodice is boned at the seams and lined with silk twill. The back fastens with hooks and eyes and press studs. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"lace","id":"AAT132861"},{"text":"silk taffeta","id":"x34754"},{"text":"silk twill","id":"x36838"}],"techniques":[{"text":"dressmaking","id":"AAT53650"},{"text":"printing","id":"AAT53319"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Chiné silk taffeta, trimmed with lace and wooden tassels covered in silk","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Marriage","id":"THES48921"},{"text":"Clothing","id":"THES48975"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2006AU5647","2020MU4699"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES307689"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Dress","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1909","earliest":"1909-01-01","latest":"1909-12-31"},"association":{"text":"worn","id":"x34724"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the friends of the late Pearl Adam","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"144.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"neck to hem, front","note":"measurement converted from department register"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"91.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"bodice","note":"measurement converted from department register"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This dress was worn by the journalist Helen Pearl Humphrey (1882-1957) for her marriage in 1909 to fellow journalist George Adam (d.1930) and appears to have been remodelled from a late 19th century evening dress.","historicalContext":"Helen Pearl Humphrey, born 25 April 1882, was the daughter of Mrs CE Humphrey, who wrote in 'Truth' under the nom de plume 'Madge'. Mrs CE Humphrey was one of the first British women journalists. Her daughter began her own career as a journalist aged 17 in 1899. Her husband, George Adam, was a writer for The Times, and together, they were posted to Paris in 1912 as correspondents. They were there throughout the First World War, and Pearl Adam published her diary of the period under the title <i>Paris Sees It Through</i>. They remained in Paris after the war, where Pearl Adam met the writer Jean Rhys, who lived in their flat whilst editing her first novel, <i>Triple Sec</i>. George Adam resigned from The Times in Jan 1921 but continued working for American newspapers, while his wife wrote articles commissioned by the Evening Standard, the Observer and the Sunday Times amongst others. George Adam died in Paris in 1930, after which time Pearl Adam returned to England where she continued her work, which included writing the History of the National Council of Women of Great Britain in 1945. She died 2 Jan 1957.","briefDescription":"Wedding dress, 1909, English, printed silk taffeta, worn by Helen Pearl Humphrey at her wedding","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.52-1957"],"accessionNumberNum":"52","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1957,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-01-31","recordCreationDate":"1999-12-15","availableToBook":true}}