Title
Pair of Western-style net 'lingerie' tea gowns
Year/Period
1905-1912
Object Type
Material
Dimension
Object size: Dimensions variable. Please refer to individual dimensions.
Accession No.
2021-00813
Collection of
These summer dresses are made of light net material, 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.
