Summer Dresses – 1798

Two women stand facing each other in fashions for July 1798. The woman on the left wears a black spotted or checked white scarf wrapped around her head turban style, showing only her curled bangs. She is dressed in a pale-yellow, robe-style dress, where one side is wrapped over the other. The sleeves are elbow length with gathered fabric in an “X” at the center. The front edges and hem are trimmed in a black loop pattern. Her dress is floor length with a short train, and she wears no jewelry or gloves.

She has matching, pale-yellow shoes and holds a bag or purse in the same color, or she may be lifting the fabric of her skirt at the side. The woman on the right wears a garland of pink and white flowers on her head, and her hair is dressed in short curls. Her dress is composed of a mint-green overdress and a white underskirt. The top layer has elbow length sleeves and a small white ruffled collar. A lattice pattern adorns half the sleeve. The hem of the overdress and the underskirt are both trimmed in a criss-cross pattern. She holds a pink flower wears a bracelet. She wears white shoes.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges