Carriage and Evening Dresses – Winter 1819

Woman on the left wears a gray carriage dress with long sleeves, a high collar, and an empire waist. The cuffs are edged with white lace and trimmed with gray frog closures. The bodice is trimmed with vertical lines of gray buttons, gray ribbon, and gray zigzag designs. A gray ruffle runs under the bust, and there are gray ruffles at the shoulders.

The collar is comprised of a high, gray ruff with an even higher, white ruff under the chin. The skirt is hemmed with a white ruffle followed by a wide, white band trimmed with white ruffles and gray zigzags. The woman wears gray gloves, shoes, and stockings. Her hat is gray and trimmed with gray points along the crown and several large gray plumes. She stands holding a white, fringed shawl in the crook of her right elbow. The woman on the right wears a gray evening dress with an empire waist, a low, sweetheart neck, and puffed short sleeves.

The neck is trimmed with scallops of white lace, and the lower half of the sleeves is white and trimmed with white rosettes. The skirt is hemmed with two gray bands with white rosettes interspersed. The woman wears gray shoes and stockings and white, elbow-length gloves. She wears gray bead earrings and a necklace with a gray cross pendant. She has a pointed, white cap with a ruffle that sits far back on her head.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges