Bridal Fashions – Autumn 1864

Two women are depicted in a salon. Behind them is an ornate carved wooden sideboard with a decorative vase and a plate on the top. The woman on the left wears a wedding dress. Her hem length veil is fastened at the top of her head with flowers. Her dress is white with a narrow lace collar, long sleeves, and a sash or belt at the waist. The dress buttons down the center front of the bodice, and has ruffles edging the cuffs. At her waist is a corsage of white flowers. The upper layer of her skirt opens high at the front, and is edged with a wide border of ruffled lace.

The underskirt is edged with the same wide lace ruffle. The woman on the right wears a dark blue bonnet with pink flowers and a wide white ribbon. Her dress is a matching blue with a jacket with a jewel neck and long narrow sleeves. There are horizontal frog fastenings on the bodice of the jacket and a black intertwined pattern around the edges and down the center. Her shirt has the same pattern down the center and at the hem. She holds a white handkerchief in her left hand. Both skirts are very wide; it is the height of the crinoline fashion.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges