French Fashions – Autumn 1847

Les Modes Parisiennes: 1847 Mid-Victorian Woodland Stroll and Autumnal Ensembles

Dating from September 1847, this genuine hand-colored French fashion plate from Les Modes Parisiennes illustrates elite European outerwear designed for country walks. Set against a minimalist forest backdrop of slender, bare-branched trees, the composition showcases two distinct daytime garments. The woman on the left wears a voluminous, boxy black velvet or wool short jacket with wide sleeves, layered over a pale rose-pink pleated skirt that features a central vertical row of delicate ruffles. Beside her, the second figure walks in a striking ice-blue taffeta gown ornamented with tiered horizontal flounces and small crimson accents, epitomizing the romanticism of high-society mid-19th-century French provincial styling.

Romantic Era Fabric Details: Velvet Short Jackets and Tiered Flounced Skirts

This mid-Victorian engraving offers exceptional insights into the garment textures and tailoring innovations of the late 1840s. A prominent visual feature is the detailed rendering of headwear, contrasting the first figure’s exposed hairstyle decorated with pink silk ribbons against the companion’s elaborate white cottage bonnet (capote) lined with matching pink floral accents. The artist masterfully handles the structural weight of the black overcoat alongside the airy, rhythmic pattern of the blue gown’s multiple tiered horizontal ruffles. This archival lithograph serves as a premier reference for clothing historians, historical reenactors, and antique print dealers specializing in mid-19th-century Parisian fashion evolution.