French Fashions – c.1860s

Antique French Fashion Plate Showcasing Leisure Outerwear

This charming hand-colored fashion engraving originates from a mid-nineteenth-century edition of Paris’s iconic Le Follet journal, published at Boulevard St. Martin. Setting itself apart from formal ballroom depictions, this historic artwork beautifully documents the specialized recreational attire and outdoor sports fashion favored by upper-class European society. The collectible print serves as an invaluable resource for researchers examining the intersection of Victorian social pastimes, maritime leisure culture, and seasonal dress history.

Mid-19th-Century Boating Costumes and Men’s Summer Fashion

The illustration captures an idyllic lake outing featuring a gentleman steering a wooden rowboat for three elegantly dressed women. The man models period-accurate men’s resort wear, consisting of a lightweight cream lounge suit, a black bow tie, and a protective wide-brimmed straw boater hat. His companions display colorful summer day dresses with tiered pink ruffles, polka-dotted blue fabrics, and delicate lace-trimmed pagoda sleeves, accessorized with functional folding fans, kid-leather gloves, and a fringed silk parasol.