Riding Dress – c.1860

A woman and two children dressed in fashions from approximately 1860 stand on pavement in front of a stone wall and a column. The woman is dressed in a dark green riding habit with a long, full skirt with a train. The jacket and skirt are decorated with bands of buckled green ribbons down the center front. The jacket has narrow sleeves with cuffs reaching past the wrists and a peplum with pointed fronts, open from the waist down. A white pointed falling collar is visible at her jewel neckline. The train of her skirt is caught up by a braided cord for walking, and she holds her riding crop in her right hand.

Her hat has a moderate brim and is decorated with green feather plumes and ribbons. Two children stand next to her reaching toward her. The older child is a girl, handing a red rose up to the woman. She wears a pink dress decorated with two horizontal bands of zigzags. The skirt reaches just below her knees and is very wide and full. Under the skirt she wears white lace trimmed pantaloons. She is wearing either white stockings and low black slippers, or shoes with white uppers or spats. Her blouse is white with long sleeves with lace ruffles at the wrists. A green shawl with scalloped edges is draped over her upper body and fastened with two clasps at the neck. Her white bonnet is trimmed with feathers and ribbons. Next to her is a smaller child, probably a boy “not yet breeched,” but possibly another girl.

This child reaches up to the woman’s arm. The child’s outfit is a brown and yellow plaid dress, with matching knee socks. Over this is a blue jacket with narrow sleeves, and buttons trimming the back below the waist. A white ruffle is visible at the neck. A band of bias plaid runs down the center front of the dress, with a line of round buttons. The child is wearing a black cap trimmed with plaid and three standing feathers.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges