1840's

 Day dress

  BMT(C)1140
 

Brown shot silk with brown frogging braid around neck, shoulders, cuffs and on belt. Lace inside high neck, self covered buttons, tiny holes in rows around waistline-may have been altered.

This decade is marked by the relative lack of change in the modest and demure style of women’s dress, the exception being the increasing diameter of the skirt The waist has returned to its natural position and long sleeved, high necked styles appear more restrictive than those of the 1830’s This dress displays the sleeves typical of the period and is probably from the early 1840’s as the skirt is narrow.

Although the form remained simple, fabric became increasingly opulent –due to advancements in dying, printing and weaving technology, this gown is of shot silk, a fabric very much the fashion for this period.
                               
1740 1780 1800 1820 1840 1851 1856 1875 1878 1890 1900 1910 1925 1930 1940 1950
                               
     
 

Return to Costume