Venetian lace dress piece, unknown maker from Italy

Lace dominated fashion and household furnishing throughout Europe and America during the mid–19th century. Machine lace and handmade or “real” lace were both sought after by women from all economic classes. This Venetian needlepoint lace bodice and wing-shaped fragment are pieces of a handmade lace dress worn by Sallie Casey Thayer. Once described by Thayer as her “most economical frock,” she had the lace dress remade each year to suit current fashion trends. Thayer purchased this dress during the early 1900s, most likely on one of several trips to Italy.
Although wearing handmade lace indicated social status, Thayer may have also been interested in lace because of the craft’s role in establishing profitable local industries in many countries throughout Europe. She envisioned that Kansas City would one day become a manufacturing center. In Thayer’s quest to foster appreciation for the arts in Kansas City, the lace dress was a visual manifestation of her belief that everyday objects should be artfully designed, and demonstrated that creative industries could play an important role in the local economy.