Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Fashion Forecast: 1833, Part 2

What was the well-dressed young woman wearing in the second half of 1833?

July’s Evening Dresses come in both plain and fancy, as can be seen in this print from the Court Magazine. On the left, the bodice and skirt appear to be of a figured muslin, with pleats across the breast; the sleeves are decorated with full frills of lace both above and below...and the feathers in the hat are decidedly Dr. Seussical. The gold dress at left sensibly keeps things plain and lets the black lace frill, pointed at the waist, do the talking. Note that the gloves have a frill of black lace as well! Both dresses are quite low cut off the shoulder, as was the general fashion this year in evening wear:


 For an evening out in August, here are an Opera Dress and an Evening Dress from the Court Magazine, both on the same general line but with slightly differing sleeves, the Opera Dress having a self-fabric upper sleeve and the Evening Dress a double sleeve of lace flounces. The black lace scarf-wrapper is quite striking:


More wonderful backgrounds...and two wonderful Evening Dressses in September’s Court Magazine. I wish I had the original text as I would love to see the description of the print fabric on the left. The sleeve variations on both dresses are of especial interest: note the long gauze sleeves caught closed with buttons on the dress at left, and the graceful fall of lace on the sleeves at right:


October’s Court Magazine features, interestingly, a pair of Sea Side Dresses—who knew that this was a popular month for beach-going? Both appear to be of muslin with the additions of a lace trimmed mantlet at left, and an overdress with a double pelerine bodice:


Also from October’s Court Magazine is this Public Promenade Dress (I do wonder what the difference is—if any—between a Walking Dress and a Promenade Dress!) Note the lace collar plus fichu, the gigot sleeves tight to the forearm, the spectacular parasol, and a reticule fastened to the belt by a small clip:


More Evening Dresses, one of them a “Costume Antique” though the style of the two appears to be identical...perhaps it’s in the details. The sleeves are unusual, hearkening almost to a Renaissance style with a white undergarment puffing through bands of heavier fabric (November, Court Magazine):


This plate from December’s Court Magazine features a Morning Dress and Carriage Dress; the Morning Dress with few fusses and furbelows, as befits a dress you hang out in at home and work on your watercolor painting in. The Carriage Dress features more detail, being made in the pelisse-robe style ornamented with large bows down the front, cuffed gigot sleeves, and a fur boa:


This Evening Dress also from December’s Court Magazine is just so pretty! The skirt is ornamented with a lace inset; small lace frills feature at the waist and around the capelet collar; the sleeves are plain but very full. The gloves appear to be of net, and her hair, with the jeweled headband across the forehead, looks almost flapperish!


What do you think of 1833’s fashion?

2 comments:

Daisy said...

These gowns are so beautiful. I love looking at them. Thank you for sharing them.

Marissa Doyle said...

Aren't they pretty? You're very welcome!