Walking Dress – Summer 1830

Pre-Victorian Walking Dresses and Early 1830s Romantic Era Silhouettes

This original July 1830 fashion plate from La Belle Assemblée magazine illustrates a vibrant group promenade scene during the transition into the pre-Victorian Romantic era. The hand-colored antique engraving features two fashionable women accompanied by a young boy in an open country park setting. The dresses showcase the dramatic expansion of skirt volumes and the return of puffed sleeves, with the lady on the left in a patterned pink gown with a multi-layered pelerine collar, and the lady on the right in a soft yellow or gold silk walking dress embellished with large fabric bows along the front skirt seam.

Nineteenth-Century Historic Children’s Wear and Ornate Millinery Design

The young boy in the foreground provides a spectacular study of historic juvenile costuming, dressed in a classic royal blue tunic skeleton suit or belt-cinched coat paired with white trousers and a matching peaked military cap. Both women feature the extravagant, wide-brimmed hats typical of 1830, heavily laden with lace veils, vertical striped ribbons, and delicate pink rose floral sprigs tucked inside the brims. Complete with accessories like long gold watch chains and delicate drop earrings, this fine print serves as an invaluable resource for tracking family dress codes and advanced millinery trends.