These summer dresses are made of light cotton, making them well suited for a tropical climate. Such dresses were also known as ‘lingerie frocks’ for using the same material and decorative elements that undergarments of the time were made from. These were popular in Singapore in the 1910s but continued to be worn in the interwar years as well. In Singapore, the wives of British colonial residents would wear such dresses, with a slip underneath, for morning or afternoon tea, bridge parties, or simply around the home given their less formal nature. After the first world war, the wives of wealthy Chinese businessmen also emulated the European habit of tea mornings and bridge parties, and some adopted forms of European dress. Although the social lives of such women in Singapore was highly regulated and restricted, the years after the first world war brought about changes and a greater degree of freedom, reflecting women’s rights movements in Europe and America. Greater freedom was also reflected in women’s dress, such as the shorter hemlines and sleeve lengths of these summer dresses.
