French Fashions – 1867

Victorian Children’s Garments and Ladies’ Garden Promenade Dress

This beautiful hand-colored fashion plate from “Le Follet” showcases an elegant 1860s outdoor scene featuring adult promenade dresses alongside authentic children’s historical clothing. A young girl stands centrally in a white tiered day dress accented with a vibrant crimson silk sash, matching red stockings, and a structured smoking-cap style hat. Flanking her are two ladies in sophisticated park attire: one in a scalloped tan taffeta walking gown holding a coordinated green silk parasol, and another seated in a periwinkle blue visiting dress intricately trimmed with cream lace insert panels and decorative tassels.

Historical Girls’ Clothing and Parasols for Living History Reenactment

For costume designers and historical textile researchers, this plate provides excellent primary evidence of mid-Victorian juvenile fashion and summer accessories. The child’s garment illustrates the period’s preference for square-neck bodices, shortened hemlines for youth, and bright contrast trimmings that mirrored adult trends while allowing for slight mobility. Additionally, the scalloped layers on the tan dress and the implementation of a folding pagoda-style parasol offer invaluable design data for recreating wealthy bourgeois family ensembles and outdoor carriage attire with precise accuracy.