Bridal Fashions – Spring 1836

The woman on the left wears a white wedding dress with a high, round neck, a fitted bodice, and a divided overskirt that shows off her ornately patterned underskirt. Both skirts are edged with white, lacy ruffles and patterned with tone-on-tone floral motifs. The vertical edges of the overskirt are trimmed with corsages of pink and white flowers and knots of white ribbon. The sleeves are fitted to the elbow, with lace lower sleeves which form a wide bell. The bells of the sleeves are divided and caught up by elaborate knots of white ribbon at the elbow.

The woman wears white shoes and elbow-length gloves and has a corsage of pink and white flowers pinned over her heart. She wears a double circlet of pink rosebuds in her hair and a long, white lace veil, which extends from her bun. She holds a white, lace-edged handkerchief and a blue hymnal or Bible in her right hand. She rests these items on a plump, red cushion, which is trimmed and tasseled in pale gold. The cushion sits on a carved stone railing, and the woman stands on a green rug fringed in pale gold. The second woman is in the background.

She sits on a bench or footstool with spiraling black legs, pale gold fringe, and a deep red, upholstered top. She, too, wears a white wedding dress. Like her companion’s, the dress has a scoop neck and sleeves which bell out over the elbows. A corsage of white flowers is pinned to the bodice, and she wears a circlet of pink roses and a long, lacy, white veil trimmed with a spray of white flowers. She looks down, reading her Bible. The two women are in a church, with a balustrade next to them. A row of white columns arch into the distance. “1836” is written in pencil in the upper left.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges