Through the Decades

Playing dress up is an activity that many children enjoy. Often it means rummaging through trunks of their parents' and their grandparents' old clothes. Many of those clothes were once the fashion of the day, before being relegated to the pile of dress up clothes. Fashion has changed over time, and continues to do so. Today people may keep up with the current trends through a variety of fashion magazines. Early in the nineteenth century access to the latest trends was limited. However, as ladies' journals and fashion periodicals appeared, it became easier for women to follow the trends. Godey's Lady's Book, first published in 1830, quickly became the most popular periodical among women. It contained stories and information relevant to ladies' lives, including fashion. The fashion section not only described the latest fashions and the most flattering figures; it also contained colored fashion plates of the newest styles.

Cities had access to the latest fashions prior to any of the smaller towns. However, the residents of smaller towns like Northampton found ways to find out about the latest fashions and many made an effort to follow them. In a letter to her sister in Boston in the latter half of the 1820s, Elizabeth Clarke demanded, ".Write what the fashions are. We hear the sleeve is to be straight all round."

Early in the decade the waistlines were quite high but gradually fell closer to the natural waistline throughout the decade. This dress belonged to Elizabeth Long Stebbins and dates to 1821-1825. It exemplifies the style of dress for much of the decade. The fullness of the skirt increased towards the latter part of the 1820s and puffed sleeves were also worn throughout the 1820s.

The styles that arose at the end of 1820s ushered in the hourglass figure. Indeed, by the end of the 1820s and throughout most of the 1830s an hourglass shape was the most desirable shape, which meant wide shoulders, fullness in the skirt and a narrow middle. Corsets were used to decrease the size of the waist and emphasize the hourglass shape A wide sleeve called a gigot, or leg o' mutton sleeve, which was full at the top and tapered down towards the wrist was popular. The trend ended rather abruptly in 1836, perhaps as some historians speculate because the sleeve could not get any bigger. During the latter half of the decade the sleeves kept the basic leg o' mutton shape, but were "banded down" or pleated and fitted at the top of the arm before forming a puff above the elbow and then tapering to the wrist. With the rise of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1830s, factories began to make clothing. The development of water and steam powered machinery used in the factories allowed cotton cloth to be more easily produced and therefore more affordable.

The material of this dress is a roller-printed cotton, widely known as calico. Worn by Mary Todd during her time at the Gothic Seminary, it dates to 1839 and has leg o' mutton sleeves banded down across the top of the arm, as was typical of the late 1830s.

By the 1840s the style of dress for women became more restrictive. The wide neck and pleating that emphasized the neckline disappeared and the sleeves were tight the entire length of the arm. The August 1843 issue of Godey's Lady's Book describes the "Morning Home" costume, ". The sleeves are tight to the arm, but made with one seam only, and are finished at the top by an epaulette with two folds of the material of the dress. Cuffs of lace are turned up at the wrist." Not all dresses had epaulettes or caps, but it was a prominent trend. The bodice was long waisted and tighter than previous decades but it became shorter and more rounded in front towards the end of the decade and into the 1850s. Pelerines, short, cape-like articles of clothing also came back into fashion during this decade. Pelerines were a variation of the style of clothing worn by the pilgrims during the seventeenth century. In fact, pelerine is the French word for pilgrim. The style reflected the religious revival of the era. Pelerines could be lace, embroidered, or made out of the same material as the dress. The neckline of dresses became higher throughout the decade. An 1842 issue of Godey's Lady's Book describes most of the trends of the 1840s, "Dress made high in the neck, tight waist trimmed with a cape; tight sleeves. Full silk skirt." The overall style portrayed a sense of modesty as seen in these daguerreotypes of Jane Damon Smith and Clarissa Stebbins Lathrop.

Women from all social classes wore bonnets and caps, which also played an important role in the fashion of Antebellum America. As the style of dress changed, so did the bonnets. This meant that the bonnets decreased in size and decoration from the 1830s to the early 1840s. Straw and silk were the most common materials for making bonnets, which were then decorated with ribbons and flowers. Mrs. R.B. Dickinson was one of the prominent milliners or bonnet makers in Northampton.

Here she wears a bonnet in the fashion of the mid 1840s, a style that opened up around the face with trimmings placed in irregular positions around the sides.

Some characteristics of the late 1840s style of dress carried over into the early fifties. Pelerines were still worn and the bell sleeve, sometimes called the pagoda sleeve, gained prominence in the 1850s. Bell sleeves flared out towards the wrist, and were usually worn with under sleeves, often made out of cotton. Bell sleeves were not the only style of sleeve in fashion during the 1850s. A narrow sleeve that was gathered at the wrist called a Bishop sleeve, sometimes worn in the 1840s and even earlier, continued to be worn as well. Collars were still embroidered and some could be rather large, though not to be confused with the large pelerine-type collar. In these daguerreotypes, Clarissa Stebbins Lathrop and her sister Susan Stebbins displayed a common style of dress during the 1850s. Susan has a black collar to match her mourning wear which she wore after the death of her father.

As the 1850s drew to a close the period of large hoop skirts approached along with the Civil War, which lead to further changes in fashion.