Walking and Evening Dresses – Spring 1832

Two women in a walking dress and an evening dress from Philadelphia in 1832. The woman on the left wears a blue, long-sleeved walking dress. She has a white ruff collar with a gold brooch in the center. The collar of her dress is folded down and the bodice of her dress is pleated, with one side crossing over the other. Her sleeves are in the leg-of-mutton style. She wears a blue ribbon belt with a rectangular gold buckle.

The ankle-length skirt is open in the front revealing an underskirt. She wears green walking boots and brown gloves. She wears a long gold bead necklace and a dark blue bonnet decorated with green ribbon cockades. The woman on the right is seated in a brown chair. She wears a long-sleeved, light pink evening dress. Her collar is edged with white lace and decorated epaulets cover the tops of her sleeves past the shoulders.

The bodice is formed of criss-crossed pleats and she wears a pink ribbon belt. She wears black shoes, white gloves, and has a white feather boa draped around her shoulders. Her hair is braided and arranged into a coronet, and she wears a silver filet with a red jewel.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges