Evening Gowns – Summer 1829

The woman on the left wears a white evening dress with a low, straight neckline and short, puffed sleeves. The neckline is edged with three rows of pearls and is trimmed with a yellow flower at each shoulder and at the center of the bodice. Teardrop-shaped pearls dangle between the flowers along the neckline. Two lace flounces cover the sleeves at the shoulders, and there is a white, zigzagged band at her waist. The dress is hemmed with a wide band of ornate, white decoration.

The woman wears flat, white shoes and white, elbow-length gloves with zigzag ends. A brightly colored bird decoration with a long, yellow and red tail sits on the woman’s elaborate coiffure. She wears a wide, gold circlet, which comes to a point in the center and is hung with three pearls drops. The woman is seated on a low footstool, which is upholstered and fringed in deep pink. The woman on the right wears a pale purple evening dress with a low, straight neckline and puffed sleeves edged in white. The neckline is trimmed with three strands of pearls interspersed with pearl drops, followed by two rows of white, lace ruffles. She wears a zigzag patterned belt which fastens with a purple pouf or flower in back.

Her skirts are short, exposing the ankle, and are finished with a wide band of white decoration like that of the other woman. She, too, wears white, elbow-length gloves finished in a zigzag pattern. Her stockings are white, and she wears flat, purple lace-up slippers. The woman wears a gold, linked circlet and a purple bow in her hair. A bright, bird ornament perches on her bun. The woman’s back is to the viewer, and she appears to look at her companion. “’29” has been written in pencil in the upper right.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges