… to 1857 or ’58 based on the skirt shape, size, and apparent lack of petticoat and lack of tiers (which would indicate 1855-56), even though it’s hard to see the bodice and sleeves which would normally help pinpoint it more exactly.  The hair and hat places it in eastern …

… was the newly invented green dye, made with arsenic.  Cartoonists had fun with this too, although it wasn’t fun in 1862 when anyone who touched the sweat of the wearer such as a dance partner, died of arsenic poisoning. Slippers and gowns were made of it, and even after …

.. .began with the steel hoop of 1856.  Here, Princess Alice of Hesse wears the newly introduced 1857 hoop under her bridesmaid ensemble. NOTE: a wonderful portrait painter of the era, Franz Xaver Winterhalter, is responsible for documenting the high fashion of many European royals and their families.

.. late 1850’s could be seen in the shape of the skirt (and the tiers).  In these photos of Queen Victoria, left we see the 1851 shape with multiple heavy petticoats, and right the 1861 larger and lighter shape made by the crinoline hoop.

.. flattened a bit in the front so it was less domed, and more of a pyramid by 1860.  There came many versions of it that were articulated (folding), and constructed of a variety of materials, although the steel cage remained the most popular. (Photo: late 1850’s reticulating hoop translates …

.. as the crinoline hoop made a giant, rounded and gigantic dome.  Petticoats were cut to match the domed shape. Freed from the excess petticoat weight of the 1830’s and ’40’s, women of the mid and late 1850’s had a bouncy spring in their step. Cartoonists were having a grand …

… without 6 layers of petticoats, and they could move freely underneath at last.  Unfortunately, a hoop could blow up in a gust of wind.  Fortunately women of every class and age had been wearing drawers for some time. Cartoonists loved the crinoline, and most of our knowledge of them …

… (hoop, crinoline) in 1856.  W.S. Thompson invented the steel frame cage and marketed it throughout America and Europe.  It freed women of the weight of petticoats, although they kept a petticoat to go over the frame so the metal bands wouldn’t show through the dress.  

…by 1850 the word “crinoline” meant the whole of the beehive shaped skirt.  Later, the cage hoop or support framed petticoat would also be called “crinoline” or “crinoline hoop”. (1852: reproduction tape and wire crinoline hoop and day dress reproduction of Victoria’s favorite plaid)    

… Horsehair in French.  Use of the word “crinoline” in describing the new 1840’s undergarments suggested that horsehair was used to give it stiff shape. At first horsehair was used in a strip as a lining hem, and then at the top of a sleeve to keep its shape. (Left: …