Cody, Wyoming – Cody Regional Longterm Care Facility.  Open to the public.  Donations encouraged. 3 NEW GALS!!  3 NEW ENSEMBLES!! A different approach to fashion; this one is about food & family.  Each Gal is bringing a dish to our “Fashion Potluck” (sorry, can’t share..!) Hope to see our “regulars” …

… deeper, had more gathers at the top, and bigger diameter at the bottom.  The shape was made by the fabric of the skirt and the waist pleating detail at this point.  It took several large and elaborate petticoats to help hold the skirt out like this sketch from a …

… were given MORE flounces and MORE tiers.  It started out as 2 tiers as more of an overskirt with main skirt in the beginning, and then 3 tiers became the norm. Each tier was tightly gathered at the top, and weighted down with horsehair braid at the bottom so …

.. in the 1840’s.  By 1845, big flounces and an additional overskirt became the regular feature of day as well as evening wear. (Garment: 1841 estimated short overskirt over the main skirt.  It was built into the waist and tightly gathered)

.. than they could get with cartridge pleats or current designs. Because the 1840’s skirts did not have as much fabric or width at the hem, between 1840 and 1845, women added big flounces on evening dresses. (Garment: 2 tiers of deep flounces mark the years 1840 to 45)  

.. in Victorian fashion.  Cartridge pleats as shown in this 1841 skirt on the left (with 1770’s fabric!) piled up thickness of fabric to fit into the tiny waist. After 1846 (sample right is 1845), flat pleating, and “modified box pleats” and various combinations around the waist allowed more fabric …

… In the early Victorian era, it was a smooth and consistent evolution of line, shape, color, and texture (unlike some abrupt ones that would come such as “bustle; then no bustle”.  The 1845 “V” in the front of the bodice was still there, as were the collars and undersleeves, …

.. beautiful imported fabrics from all over the world became easy to find.  In America with its rising industrial and merchant middle classes, the need to produce their own goods became reduced.  America of 1820 led the world in cotton production, and this extended to dye and textile processes. What …

.. became more saturated as the 1850’s approached.  The pale delicate and girlish dimity fabrics became the rich colors of a Scottish plaid, or an imported silk. High fashion, directed by a young and newly wed Queen Victoria, came out of England, but with the vast communications, trade, and import/export …

… tomorrow.  Take a break with us – it’s tea time in Britain 1858!