American Evening Gown – 1895

A woman in a lavender and purple leaf-patterned brocade dress with leg o’ mutton sleeves. She descends a staircase to display the long train. The dress has purple velvet upper sleeves which are very wide, and have gold trim with rosettes at the elbows. Matching gold forms the sash and the collar, with rosettes at the waist, and a bow at the back of the collar.

A triangular front gold section has a cameo, and she wears narrow gold bracelets over her long white gloves. The front of the bodice is lavender with dots. A wide pleated lace collar of gray or lavender spreads out over the upper sleeves. She wears a small cap or hair ornament of a dotted lavender bow and lavender plumes. She holds a small book in her right hand.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges