American Fashions – 1846

Early Victorian street fashion and American outerwear styles from 1846

This authentic 1846 fashion plate from Godey’s Lady’s Book highlights early Victorian street wear and outdoor attire for women. The illustration features four ladies socializing on a city sidewalk in front of historical brick buildings and storefronts. They showcase traditional mid-nineteenth-century silhouettes, including heavy wool cloaks, fringed mantelets in emerald green, and a bright blue winter cape layered over full crinoline-supported skirts.

Godey Lady Book improved fashion plates and historic print engraving

Bearing the original lower inscription No 1 of the Lady’s Book Improved Fashion Plates, this antique hand-colored steel engraving acts as an essential primary source for costume history. Each figure models the distinctive accessories of the late Romantic period, such as structured fabric bonnets decorated with delicate white feathers and lavender ribbon trim. The piece masterfully documents the transitional tailoring methods and textile trends favored by high-society American families before the Civil War.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges