American Fashions – Winter 1884

Five woman, one a bride, are standing in front of a church outside the door.The first woman on the left is wearing a grey, long-sleeved dress with a pink bonnet. The bodice is hip length and fastened down the center front. She wears a white blouse with a standing lace collar, and lace ruffles at the wrists. A large, flat, gray satin bow decorates the neckline, and bands of gray pleating with small bows adorn the cuffs. The shoulders have some small puffing at the top.

The skirt is narrow with horizontal pleating with bows at the front and sides, and three narrow rows of box pleating at the hem. She wears pearl earrings, tan gloves, and holds a closed red fan. The second woman is wearing a dark blue, high-collared, long-sleeved dress. The collar and cuffs are edged with white lace ruffles. The bodice has slightly puffed shoulders and the bodice and the skirt are draped with multi-colored trimming at the front in cream, blue and red. She wears a dark blue hat, trimmed with same decoration, and a large cream feather plume. She wears cream gloves, gold bangle bracelets, and holds a closed white fan.

The elderly woman in the center is wearing a high-collared brown coat with wide sleeves. Her hat is dark brown, adorned with tan plumes, and tied with a wide brown ribbon. The coat has wide lapels, and a band of fur trimming the hem. Buttons down the center front of the dress are visible between the lapels. The skirt visible beneath the coat has pleating at the hem and fullness above. She wears gloves and a gold bangle bracelet and may have a reticule hanging from her wrist. The next woman is the bride.

She wears a white wedding gown with three-quarter sleeves, with white lace ruffles at the neck and sleeves. The bodice buttons down the center front, and has draping from the shoulders to the center front at the waist. The bodice ends in two points at the front at hip level. The skirt has seven tiers of ruffles, with bows on the tiers at the front and sides. At hip level the skirt drapes across to the sides where it is adorned with a bouquet of white and pink flowers, which matches the corsage on her lapel. She wears long white gloves, and holds a prayer book or small Bible in her hand.

She wears more flowers in her hair under a long diaphanous veil. The woman on the right is wearing a dark teal and gray dress. Her jacket is blue, trimmed in gray fur. She is wearing a dark blue hat with pink plumes, pendant pearl earrings, and tan gloves. The jacket is hip-length, fitted, and has a standing fur collar, and military style fastening across the front. The gray fur-edged jacket hem ends in point a the front. The skirt has horizontal bands of gray and white stripes, dark blue velvet, and narrow bands of pleating at the hem. The overskirt is draped up at the back, with a point of the gray and white stripe at the side.

Lightly sketched in the background on the right is the structure of the church, two grooms holding whips seated in their carriages, and a gentleman giving his arm to assist a lady to the door as she lifts her skirt to climb up the steps.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges