Images(9)

Dress, Wedding

Object number2010.14.1 a-e

Date1934

Mediumsilk ; various metals; glass(?); netting; wax

Credit LineGift of Marilyn Di Matteis

DescriptionWedding dress with belt, pair of gloves, and veil. White silk dress. High neck with lace collar; hook on back. Long sleeves, puffy, with strips of lace strips; snaps on cuffs. Slight flare on bottom hem. Belt. Buckles: one each end, circular silver metal with diamond accents. Pair of gloves. Embroidered lines on top on hand to fingers. Opening on palm-side wrist with pearl button. Veil. Netting with lace trim. Bunched at top. Veil covers top of head; wax flowers with colored accents on either side of head.DimensionsMeasured laying flat.

(a) Height: 53.75 ; Width: 15, at waist ; Length: 22, of sleeves
(b) [was not removed for measurements]
(c,d) W: 3.675 ; L: 13.25
(e) W at top: 10; W at bottom hem: 60 ; L at top: 8; L: 112 (entire piece)
Historical NotesPart of a collection from donor Marilyn Di Matteis' family, in particular her parents Phillipo and Elvira Di Matteis, who were married in West Virginia in 1934. This wedding gown, veil, and gloves were from their wedding. The collection represents three generations of donor Marilyn Di Matteis' family of Italian Americans in the Western Pennsylvania area. Her father was born in the United States, went back to Italy, and then returned as a young teenager in the mid-1920s. His family stayed behind in Italy. He had a very difficult relationship with his father and revered his mother. The donor's mother (Elvira Martinelli) was born in Italy and came to the United States as a young girl, though she was never naturalized until the late 1940s. Her family settled in Dennison, Ohio, to work on the railroads but moved south to Weirton, West Virginia. The railroad work as not particularly constant, so other forms of work were often substituted, such as picking up vegetables in the Strip District when the train stopped in Pittsburgh and selling them in West Virginia to neighbors. The family also had a farm at various points in their lives. The young couple married in 1934 and bought a farm in the 1940s.

Previous owner Elvira Di Matteis (died 2009)

Related person Phillipo Di Matteis

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