Fashion History Blog

.. using pleats, tucks, flounces, and ruffles on the “Bertha” dropped neckline of the 1840’s and ’50’s. (1845 silk gown with innovative pleating on the “Bertha”)

… neckline worn in the early Victorian era for evening wear.  A “Bertha” totally exposed a woman’s shoulders, so they often trimmed it with 3-6″ of flounce or lace, or draped it with many horizontal bands of fabric pleats.

… very low.  In the 1840’s-1860’s, women filled in the open neck for daily wear. (Fashion Plate from 1845: low neckline and exposed shoulders for evening vs. all covered up for day wear)  

Perhaps you need a new outfit!  Now taking commissions for ensembles 1740 to 1915. (1780: “La Belle Dormeuse” – Pretty Sleeper)  

… 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 …