Fashions and Bonnets – Winter 1839

The woman on the left wears a green dress with long, full sleeves, a white lace collar and cuffs, and full skirts hemmed with two deep flounces. Over her dress the woman wears a pale, peach-colored capote (a hooded cape or shawl) edged with a band of black decoration and pale peach fringe. She ties her white, deep-brimmed bonnet under her chin and wears yellow gloves, black shoes, and white stockings. The woman on the right wears a beige dress with long sleeves, lace cuffs, and a deep flounce at the hem.

Over her dress she wears a rich brown cape which has arm slits, fastens with a tasseled, blue cord belt, and is edged in blue. Her pale blue bonnet has a deep brim edged in dark brown, while the bonnet itself is trimmed with blue and brown feathers and dark brown poufs inside the brim. The woman wears white gloves, black shoes, and fishnet-patterned stockings. The two women stand on a tiled floor. The upper half of a third woman is shown above them. She wears a pale purple dress with white lace cuffs, sleeves that are full between the elbow and the cuff, a fitted bodice, and full skirts. The vee neck is trimmed in white lace and has wide epaulets over the shoulders, edged with a zigzag hem.

An oval brooch is pinned at the neckline, and the woman wears white gloves and a light brown, deep-brimmed bonnet edged in black and trimmed with sprays of pink flowers. In the upper left of the image is a dark brown hat trimmed with brown and blue ribbons, ruffles, and feathers. Below the hat is a close-fitting white cap with lappets. It is decorated with white ruffles and small pink and white flowers. A dark green bonnet with a rear ruffle and pale green plumes is shown in the upper right. Below it is a pink cap trimmed with ruffles and flowers.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges