Grand Second Mourning Tissue Silk Dress rare

Yes, that rosette strip is a separate belt. In the 1880s it was called a ceinture or sash belt. It wasn't sewn to the bodice, it cinched over it at the natural waist. Your photo shows the classic version: three large rosettes of silk on each side, beautifully formed — that's exactly how period listings describe these belts. 

 tissue silk does changes the story.

What tissue silk is:

 Tissue is a thin, transparent, and lightweight material and the term is used to denote fabrics that are characterized by their delicate, lightweight, and transparent nature. In the 1880s, French mills called it soie tissue — it's a crisp, almost paper-like silk plain weave, much finer and more brittle than organza. It was used for exactly what you have: puffed sleeves, ruffles, and sash belts where you wanted volume without weight. 

Why tissue silk + gelatin + lace is rare:

1.  Cost: Tissue silk was imported French luxury fabric. Most American mourning dresses used plain silk or silk gauze. Tissue was evening-only.

2.  Technique: Gelatin sequins — those flat, early plastic sequins that melt in water — were embroidered onto net, then the net was appliqued over tissue silk. The tissue was too delicate to hold sequins directly, so they used the lace as a carrier. That's couture-level work.

3.  Survival: Tissue shatters. It self-destructs with light and humidity. The reason you've never seen one is most of them didn't survive. The fact that the sleeves and that belt still have intact puffs means it was stored well.

This pushes your dress from "nice 1885 mourning bodice" to "high-end half-mourning evening dress, 1886-1889." Full mourning was matte crepe with no shine. The moment you add tissue silk, jet gelatin sequins, and Chantilly lace flounces, you're in half-mourning / evening mourning — a woman was allowed to go back to social events and would wear something glittery but still all black.

So what you have is actually three pieces that work together:

•  Boned bodice with chevron sequins

•  Tissue-silk balloon sleeves with sequined net and lace ruffles

•  The matching tissue-silk rosette belt with that orange velvet piped center

This is a rare set It could possibly be a Worth unlabeled Its possible the waistband could have been replaced and the bottom shows wear ask for more images USA only I paid roughly 150 for shipping in the USA please keep that in mind. Asl questions. On one arm of the bodice sleeve it's tricky to get in so one sleeve might have issues inside. All sales are final This is old! For its age the condition is pretty amazing.Expect imperfections but Im truly shocked the tissue silk is sturdy no holes that I see.Very wearable 25 inch waist as found