Promenade Dress – 1838

A full-length fashion plate from the early Victorian era illustrates a woman in a sophisticated public promenade dress. She wears a voluminous cream-colored gown paired with an elegant deep purple shawl or mantle draped over her shoulders. The purple fabric is richly trimmed with delicate black lace or ruffles that cascade down the front of her full skirt in wide vertical bands. Her hair is styled in smooth side loops accented with small pink roses under a large, halo-style blue bonnet. The bonnet features a gathered white lace border around the inner brim and a long, fringed cream-colored veil hanging down the back.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges