The early 1870s were characterized by bustles, square necklines, sleeves that flare at the wrist, jacket-style bodices, the appearance of aprons, asymmetry, and flounces, frills, and ruffles. This ca. 1872 silk day dress designed by Mon.

What did dresses look like in the 1880s?

Throughout the 1880s, day bodices and dresses featured high, narrow shoulders descending into impossibly tight sleeves, a departure from the low, sloping shoulders of the past few decades. Collars were tall and fitted, sometimes boned for shaping (Fig. 5). Late afternoon and evening dresses (Fig.

What fabrics were used in the 1870s?

Fabrics were light in color and weight with favored fabrics being cotton, silk-taffeta and light wool. The problem of fitting outerwear over bustles was solved as three-quarter length cloaks and Dolman mantles (a short capelet with wide sleeves that were quite restrictive) began to make an appearance.

How did people dress in 1887?

Around 1887, the bustle flattened considerably and formed a drooping set of deep folds down the back. This new style caused the skirt to hang straight from the hips. The jersey is a high-necked wool sweater worn tightly over the skirt to the hips with tight sleeves and short wrists.

What colors were popular in 1890s?

Variations during the 1890s included fabrics such as linen, duck, pongee or seersucker in lighter fawns, beige or white for summer wear, and white flannels and brightly coloured wool blazers for sport, but for town or formal wear dark grey or black in woollen cloth remained correct.

What did Victorian ladies wear under their dresses?

Rich women wore corsets under their dresses. At the beginning of Victoria’s reign it was fashionable to wear a crinoline under a skirt. These hoops and petticoats made skirts very wide. Later in the period skirts were narrower with a shape at the back called a bustle.

How did ladies sit with bustles?

Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. Heavy fabric tended to pull the back of a skirt down and flatten it. As a result a woman’s petticoated skirt would lose its shape during everyday wear (from merely sitting down or moving about).

What kind of clothes did women wear in the 1870s?

Women’s clothing of the 1870s and 1880s was heavily trimmed, ornamental, and draped. The hourglass figure of the mid-19th century gave way to a longer, slimmer silhouette with narrow skirts.

What was the first womenswear silhouette in the 1870s?

The decade saw two distinct silhouettes in womenswear, both maintaining the focus on the back of the skirt. The first silhouette of the decade began in 1870; the great, circular or oval crinolines of previous decades collapsed into the so-called first bustle style (Fig. 1).

When did people start wearing combinations of dresses?

While combinations had been available as early as the late 1850s, they only became commonly chosen in the 1870s (Tortora 386). Throughout the decade, dresses generally followed the nineteenth-century customs delineating morning, afternoon, and evening wear.

Why is it called the Alexandra dress?

Named for Alexandra, Princess of Wales, who popularized the look, it consisted of a dress without a horizontal waist seam, fitted instead with long, vertical tucks and darts to create an extremely slim, body-conscious look (Fukai 126, 214).