American Fashions – Summer 1907

Three women, one blond, one brunette, and one with red hair, are sitting on the porch. Two of the women stop their activities to listen to the first woman who plays a mandolin. Three accomplishments required of society ladies are shown: music, learning, and needlework. One closed book lies on a small round side table. Another open book, and a needlework project in progress rest on a bench in the foreground.

The fashions are noted below the plate. The blonde wit the mandolin wears a dress made of “greenish-blue messaline” with a sweetheart neckline, over a high collared white lace blouse. Her dress has a smocked yoke with the fullness softly released into the bodice, elbow length full sleeves, with narrow cuffs, and a narrow belt with a front ornament. Her hair is dressed up in elegant waves.
The brunette woman standing in the center wears a dress of “haricot rouge rajah,” with an embroidered batiste blouse beneath with a jewel neckline.

The dress has wide lapels open to her waist of white lace or embroidery with a picot edging or possibly small tassels. A fluffy white lace rosette joins the lapels just above the waist. The bodice is softly bloused to the wide belt or waistband which is formed of three bands edged in white. The elbow length sleeves have cuffs trimmed in white to match the waistband and are also full and loosely gathered.

The skirt is plain and gored to flare out into a trumpet silhouette. She wears a very long strand of beads in pink or red that reach below her waist, and she has both hands raised to hold it out. The blonde on the right wears a dress of “sand-color pongee.” with lace and lawn trimming.

She wears a white high necked blouse consisting of horizontal stripes of tucking alternating with floral bands. With her back to the viewer we can see that the dress has a deep back v, reaching to her waist, which id bordered with a band of white lace applique in a pattern of ovals with a floral surround. We can see a wide waistband of tucks in a pinkish hue. The sleeves are very full, reaching to the elbow in a flared shape, edged with matching lace.

The skirt is only visible at the back, just below the waist, but seems to be flared out with gored seams. She holds a fan in her left hand, held up to her body, and she has a black ribbon and bow in her hair. The column of the porch suggests neoclassical architecture. In the background are hints of green lawns, trees, and blue sky of summer.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges