French Fashions – 1854

Two women are depicted as standing in a parlor. The woman on the left wears a gray bonnet with blue ribbon. Her muff and shawl, which she carries behind her, match the blue of her ribbons. Her dress is brown with black vertical stripes. The dress has a jewel neckline and the sleeves are long bell sleeves. There is knotted fringe trimming the hem of the jacket, in layers on the sleeves, and at the hems of the sleeves. Her blouse underneath is white lace with a small round collar, and full bell sleeves showing under the jacket sleeves. The woman on the right wears her hair pulled back smoothly, with a coronet of braids at the crown of her head. She wears a white lace cap with a white plume.

Her dress is striped mint green and white with a wide square neckline and three-quarter length bell sleeves. The fabric on the front of the dress, and in vertical lines along the sides, is white material with flower bouquet designs. Only in the front are there gold details and a bird with its wings open on the bottom. Her sleeves and bottom of the jacket are edged with white lace. Her accessories include bracelets on each arm and an object in her right hand.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges