French Fashions – Spring 1862

Two women are depicted in a parlor. The woman on the left wears a dark gray bonnet with orange ribbon. Her dress is black with a gray crenelation pattern around the edges, outlined in orange. Her dress has long lantern sleeves and a double layer of skirt. The woman on the right wears a bonnet with lavender flowers and matching ribbon. Her dress is a light gray, trimmed with narrow purple ribbons on three bands of pleating on her bodice, on her sleeves, and at the hem of her skirt. She has buttons down the front of her bodice, and long sleeves. On the table to the right of the women is a patterned bowl, on which a bright blue bird is perched. Both skirts are very wide; it is the height of the crinoline fashion.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges