Morning, Dinner and Opera Dresses – Winter 1831

The woman on the left wears a pale pink morning dress with ankle-length skirts. Over her dress, she wears an overdress or coat with leg-of-mutton sleeves, a belt, and a double cape collar. The coat is white with a tone-on-tone swirling pattern and wavy edges. A fringed, yellow scarf with bands of red and green decoration is tied around the woman’s neck, with long ends hanging free. She wears white stockings, flat black shoes, which lace up at the ankle, and pale yellow gloves. Her hat or bonnet is composed of many pleats and tufts of pinked, white lace.

Two sheer panels hang down behind. The woman carries a small, closed fan in her left hand and wears small, dangling earrings. The central figure stands behind the other two women, her back to the viewer. She wears a green, off-the-shoulder dinner dress with ankle-length skirts. Her hat is a matching green with a square crown wrapped with yellow ribbon and trimmed with a bow. The hat has a deep, upturned brim and is adorned with purple and white plumes.

The woman wears white stockings and flat, black shoes that lace up the ankle. The third woman wears a white opera dress with a ruched bodice and ankle-length skirts showing her white stockings and flat slippers. She wears a rich, deep, plum opera coat, patterned in magenta, over her dress. The coat has wide, magenta-edged sleeves, a magenta lining, and a double collar, with the lower collar a dramatic cape collar with long, hanging ends.

The woman wears a short necklace of large white beads and matching, dangling earrings. Her hat is yellow and dramatically tilted. It is lavishly decorated with white plumes and perches on a pale yellow, turban-like base, which is adorned with a yellow bow. The woman wears a gold fillet with a central stone and pale yellow gloves. She carries a white, lace-edged handkerchief in her left hand.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges