French Fashions – c.1860s

Three women and a man are in a boat on a lake. The man stands and wears a yellow hat with a white three piece suit. He wears a white shirt and a black bow tie. The woman on the left is blond, and wears her hair in ringlets with a white bonnet with pink ruffled edging. Her dress is pink with a jewel neck and long sleeves. The bodice is white with pinstripes or vertical tucks. The sleeves and skirt have multiple layers of pink flounces with black dots. She has a wide black sash at her waist. She carries a small bouquet of flowers in her right hand and a white parasol edged with pink ruffles in her left. The woman in the center wears a lavender bonnet with a white and lavender dress.

Her dress has a small scalloped collar, long sleeves, and buttons down the bodice. The white fabric has a small lavender floral pattern, and is trimmed with bands of lavender ruching on the bodice, sleeves, and skirt. There is a lavender sash, tied in a small bow at the front. She holds a closed lavender parasol in her left hand, and wears bracelets on both wrists. The woman on the far right wears a white bonnet with light blue accents. Her dress is light blue with a small floral pattern. The dress is trimmed with bands of light blue ruching. A matching wrap finishes the outfit, and she holds a closed fan in her right hand. All the skirts are very wide; it is the height of the crinoline fashion.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges