Monthly Archives: July 2021
The Writer’s Guide to 1860s Women’s Fashion
Posted on July 30, 2021 8 Comments
The 1860s is a study in contrasts when it comes to fashion. The new bright synthetic dyes and the increasing embellishment and detail competed with expectations for modesty and austerity that reigned during the United States’ Civil War. The biggest statement of the decade’s fashions, however, was the incredible widths that skirts attained. For an […]
The Writer’s Guide to 1850s Men’s Fashion
Posted on July 23, 2021 10 Comments
In previous decades men’s clothing had followed the basic shape of women’s fashion. Yet during the 1850s men’s styles remained slim despite the growing width of women’s dresses. Increasingly, men’s suits were looking more and more like those we see today. For an overview of fashion for the entire 19th century, please read my Writer’s […]
The Writer’s Guide to 1850s Women’s Fashion
Posted on July 16, 2021 73 Comments
In the 1850s, the silhouette for women widened again, this time with a focus on the skirt. Although width was also reintroduced to the sleeves with the popularity of the bell-shaped pagoda sleeve. The sobriety of the 1840s was replaced by a love of color, pattern, and trim. Technology was also having a greater impact […]
The Writer’s Guide to 1840s Men’s Fashion
Posted on July 9, 2021 8 Comments
The sobering of fashion during this period impacted men’s styles as well. This decade leached most of the color and swagger out of men’s attire. The flamboyant influence of the “Prince of Dandies,” Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, Count d’Orsay, was displaced by the restrained and carefully cultivated clothing of Prince Albert. An increasing amount of importance […]
The Writer’s Guide to 1840s Women’s Fashion
Posted on July 2, 2021 10 Comments
The 1840s continued the somber formal trend that had begun in 1836. The depictions of and expectations for women changed. With the fading of Romanticism, carefree exuberance was replaced by a cultivated austerity and a focus on domesticity. Queen Victoria was a big reason for this shift. She married Prince Albert on February 10th, 1840, […]
Rebecca Shedd - Author 