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This brown silk wedding dress is one of the earliest examples in the collection. It was worn by Miss Mary Jones of Colfa, Radnorshire, on her wedding day 27 April 1848.

Brown silk wedding dress with a full skirt, centre-back opening, and puffed sleeves. Decorated with brown silk fringe and braid. The dress has a pointed front to the bodice characteristic of this period. The bodice is constructed from four pieces of silk at the front and four pieces at the back, with the two central sections at both front and back tapering to a narrow width towards the waist. The neck opening is surrounded by piping in self fabric. Piping also on either side of the chest, running down the front of the bodice, around waistline as well as at arm holes. Sleeves consist of two narrow and one wider puffed section, followed by a smooth, close-fitting section below the elbow which is made from one piece, apart from a small triangular section which has been added near the rear of each cuff. The cuff itself has an additional applied section of shaped silk to which a decorative brown silk braid is attached. The back opening is closed with 15 metal hook and stitched loop fasteners, plus one additional metal hook and eye at waist. The upper two loops have additional loops, stitched using darker thread 1cm in from the original ones (there are no additional hooks). The opening extends down from the waist (into the skirt section) by another 29cm. The skirt made from seven widths of fabric. Upper edge skirt is pleated into the waist in a regular pattern of pleats, folded in either direction. Skirt lining is made up of four lengths of cotton fabric. Deep pocket in right side of front (in line with vertical seam joining two pieces of silk). The brown silk fabric is an unbalanced tabby weave with thinner, brown warps mostly covering the thicker black wefts (c. 72 warps/cm, 36 wefts/cm). It has a c. 5mm wide white selvage (it is visible on the inside of the bodice and on the inside opening of the pocket).
All stitches are carried out by hand, using a variety of different threads. Former stitch holes on either side of the side seam (bodice) suggest that the dress may have been altered (made wider). Former stitch holes below the waist could indicate that the skirt was once shorter, or had additional applied decoration. A combination of the pattern of soiling as well as previous stitch holes on the centre-front of the hem suggest that a rectangular section of fabric (?) was once attached there (to the inside). From there, previous stitch holes run vertically all the way up to the waist, as well as further stitches down the centre-front of the bodice. A narrow strip of brown silk has been stitched from the inside to cover the centre-front seam down the front of the bodice.