Fashions – Autumn 1840

The top row of figures shows three women. The woman on the left wears a pink and purple dress with a fitted bodice, full sleeves, and white lace cuffs. Two lines of white lace ruffles run over the shoulders and down the bodice to form a point at the waist. The woman wears white gloves and a white bonnet, which ties under the chin and is trimmed with white plumes and pink flowers. The central woman wears a dotted white, off-the-shoulder dress with long full sleeves, and a ruched neckline.

A gold brooch is pinned to her bodice, and she wears a blue lace-trimmed shawl, and white gloves. In her hair, she wears a delicate filet, blue ribbons, and a yellow flower. The woman on the right wears a grey dress with a divided overskirt, full sleeves, and lacy white cuffs. Three rows of tiny ruffles edge the bodice, forming a point at the waist. The woman wears pale blue gloves, holds a closed, white fan in her right hand, and wears a round purple bonnet decorated with pink flowers, and a large, purple-edged white plume.

The second row of figures shows two standing women. The woman on the left wears a purple pin-striped dress with an overskirt hemmed with two ruffled flounces that divides to show the underskirt. A row of buttons runs down the front of the bodice and underskirt, and the sleeves are white, ruched, and fitted above the elbow, then purple and full to the lacy white cuffs. The woman wears a short white lace shawl composed of two tiers of eyelet lace, which fastens in the front with a yellow bow. Her white bonnet is trimmed with small pink flowers and lacy white ruffles; it ties under the chin with an off-white bow. The woman wears off-white gloves, black shoes, and white stockings.

She holds a lace-edged handkerchief in her right hand and a very small pink parasol in her left. The woman on the right wears a white long sleeved dress with full, bell-shaped skirts trimmed with three deep lace-edged flounces. She wears black shoes, white stockings, and off-white gloves. Her white bonnet ties under the chin and is decorated with pink flowers and bunches of green grapes. Around her shoulders she wears a long deep-pink fringed shawl hemmed with bands of yellow.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges