Fashions for May 1854

View at source here

Loretta reports:

Yes, dear reader, you have read the date correctly.  After all this time of dissing Victorian fashions, I’ve decided to rethink the matter.  Partly because sticking to the first 37 years of the 19th century (pre-Victoria) has grown a little … boring.  Partly because I’ve been reading Dickens again.  Partly because I truly believe that every fashion period has certain bright points.  And partly because a great many more historical romance authors are now setting their stories in the Victorian era, and their ladies, too, deserve attention.

So I present for your consideration what’s always been one of my least favorite fashion eras—the mid-nineteenth century.  Although it’s hard to escape the “woman in a cage” or "bell-shaped female" image, I’m ready to reinterpret, and see what's pretty about the styles.  Are you?  I think we can agree that this plate is quite beautifully done, in any case.

Read at source here

The fashions, as indicated, are from Godey’s Lady’s Book, courtesy the Internet Archive. (If you decide to look up the magazine on Wikipedia, please be aware that the article contains the usual legend about Queen Victoria being the first bride to wear white, a fashion myth the 2NHG have politely disproved on numerous occasions.)

Clicking on the images will allow you to enlarge them.  Clicking on the captions will take you to the source, where you can enlarge further, for easier viewing/reading.