1860s in fashion
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1860s fashion in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by extremely full-skirted women's fashions relying on crinolines and hoops and the emergence of "alternative fashions" under the influence of the Artistic Dress movement.
In men's fashion, the three-piece ditto suit of sack coat, waistcoat, and trousers in the same fabric emerged as a novelty.
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[edit] Women's fashions
By the early 1860s, skirts had reached their ultimate width.
Day dresses featured wide pagoda sleeves worn over undersleeves or engageantes. High necklines with lace or tatted collars or chemisettes completed the demure daytime look.
Evening dresses had low necklines and short sleeves, and were worn with short gloves or lace or crocheted fingerless mitts.
Skirts were now assembled of shaped panels, since gathering a straight length of fabric could not provide the width required at the hem without unwanted bulk at the waist; this spelled the end of the brief fashion for border-printed dress fabrics.
Heavy silks in solid colors became fashionable for both day and evening wear, and a skirt might be made with two bodices, one long-sleeved and high necked for afternoon wear and one short-sleeved and low-necked for evening.
As the decade progressed, sleeves narrowed, and the circular hoops of the 1850s decreased in size at the front and sides and increased at the back. Looped up overskirts revealed matching or contrasting underskirts, a look that would reach its ultimate expression the next two decades with the rise of the bustle. Waistlines rose briefly at the end of the decade.
Fashions were adopted more slowly in America than in Europe. It was not uncommon for fashion plates to appear in American women's magazines a year or more after they appeared in Paris or London.
[edit] Outerwear
Long coats were impractical with the very full skirts, and the common outer garments were square shawls folded on the diagonal to make a triangle and fitted or unfitted hip-length or knee-length jackets.
Three-quarter-length capes (with or without sleeves) were also worn.
For walking, jackets were accompanied by floor-length skirts that could be looped or drawn up by means of tapes over a shorter petticoat.
Riding habits had fitted jackets with long sleeves, worn over a collared shirt or (more often) chemisette. They were worn with long skirts and mannish top hats.
[edit] Military and political influences
Following a visit by the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi to England in 1863, the Garibaldi jacket or Garibaldi shirt became all the rage. These bright red woolen garments featured black embroidery or braid and military details. In America, the early years of the Civil War also saw increased popularity of military-influenced styles such as Zouave jackets. These new styles were worn over a waist (blouse) or chemisette and a skirt with a belt at the natural waistline.
[edit] Rise of haute couture
The Englishman Charles Frederick Worth had established his first fashion house in Paris in 1858. He was the first couturier, a dressmaker considered an artist, and his ability to dictate design in the 1860s lead to the dominance of Parisian haute couture for the next hundred years.
[edit] Artistic dress
The followers of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and other artistic reformers objected to the elaborately trimmed confections of high fashion with their emphasis on rigid corsets and hoops as both ugly and dishonest. An "anti-fashion" for Artistic dress spread in the 1860s in literary and artistic circles, and remained an undercurrent for the rest of the century. The style was characterised by "medieval" influences such as juliette sleeves, the soft colors of vegetable dyes, narrow skirts, and simple ornamentation with hand embroidery.
[edit] Hairstyles and headgear
Hair was worn parted in the middle and smoothed, waved, or poofed over the ears, then braided or "turned up" and pinned into roll or low bun at the back of the neck. Such styling was usually maintained by the use of hair oils and pomades.
Styled hair was often further confined in decorative hairnets or snoods, especially by younger women. These hairnets were frequently made of very fine material to match the wearer's natural hair color, but occasionally more elaborate versions were made of thin strips of velvet or chenille (sometimes decorated with beads). Whether plain or resplendent, many hairnets were edged with ruchings of ribbon that would serve to adorn the crown of the wearer's head.
Fashion Bonnets for outdoor wear had small brims that revealed the face. Earlier bonnets of the decade had lower brims. However, by mid-century Spoon Bonnets, which featured increasingly high brims and more elaborate trimmings, became the vogue. Other less common variants, such as the Marie Stuart Bonnet, with its heart-shaped brim, and the fanchon bonnet, with its very short brim and back curtain, made appearances in the realm of fashionable headwear.
Bonnets could be made of a variety of materials. Bonnets formed from buckram and wire and covered with fashion fabric were very popular. During the warmer seasons, bonnets made of straw, woven horsehair, or gathered net were also seen. Heavier materials like velvet were favored for winter bonnets, though quilted winter hoods were much more practical and warm.
Trimmings varied according to the changing styles and whims of the individual wearer, but most bonnets of the period followed some general rules with regards to form. Rows of gathered net lining the brim was a fashion carry-over from the decade before, and a decorative curtain (also referred to as a "bavolet") appeared on most bonnets in order to shade the wearer's neck and accommodate for the low hairstyles. Another standard of 1860s bonnets is bonnet ties. There were often two sets, a thin pair of "utility ties" to take the strain of tying the bonnet, and another set of wide ties of silk or another fancy material. These rich ties were tied below the chin in a bow or left untied to show off the beautiful print or material.
Bonnets fell out of fashion over the decade in favor of small hats.
[edit] Style gallery 1860-1865
 1- early 1860s |
 2 - 1861 |
 3 - 1862 |
 4 - 1862 |
 5 - 1862 |
 6 - 1864 |
- Ball gowns from the early 1860's.
- Italian woman wears a gray striped jacket with turned-back pagoda sleeves trimmed in contrasting fabric and a matching skirt. Her blouse sleeves or engageantes are full over her lower arms, 1861.
- 1862 portrait of Jenny Lind depicts her a a white evening gown with a wide lace collar. Her hair is parted in the center, rolled or "turned up" at the sides, and decorated with flowers.
- Vienna fashion plate, showing male and female attire.
- Artistic dress has romantic, vaguely medieval lines with a slight train, and is worn without a corset or hoops. This young girl wears her hair down. 1862.
- Zouave jacket in bright red with ball fringe and braid trim is waist length and cutaway in front, 1864.
[edit] Style gallery 1865-1869
 1 - 1865 |
 2 - 1865 |
 3 - 1866 |
 4 - Late 1860s |
 5 - 1868 |
- The Empress Elisabeth in evening dress, 1865. The skirt has an overlayer of sheer fabric called illusion and is noticeably fuller in back than in front, the first hint of the styles that would prevail in the next decade.
- Clara Barton wears a typical American hairstyle of 1865-66.
- Emilie Menzel wears her hair in a net snood. Her day dress has a pointed waist and slightly puffed, long sleeves, 1866.
- Margherita of Savoy-Genoa wears an outdoor walking costume consisting of a loose jacket and matching skirt. The skirt is drawn up for ease of walking over an ankle-length underskirt or petticoat and hoops. She wears a bowler-like hat wrapped in a scarf or veil. Latter half 1860s.
- French evening gown of 1868 has a high waist and is worn without a crinoline. Fullness in emphasized at the back of the skirt.
[edit] Men's fashion
Men's fashion of the 1860s remained much the same as in the previous decade.
Shirts of linen or cotton featured high upstanding or turnover collars, and neckties grew wider and were tied in a bow or looped into a loose knot and fastened with a stickpin. Heavy padded and fitted frock coats (in French redingotes), now usually single-breasted, were worn for business occasions, over waistcoats or vests with lapels and notched collars. Waistcoats were generally cut straight across the front and had lapels.
The loosely fitted, mid-thigh length sack coat continued to slowly displace the frock coat for less-formal business occasions.
The slightly cutaway morning coat was worn for formal day occasions. The most formal evening dress remained a dark tail coat and trousers, with a white cravat; this costume was well on its way to crystalizing into the modern "white tie and tails".
Full-length trousers were worn, generally of a contrasting fabric. Costumes consisting of a coat, waistcoat and trousers of the same fabric (called a "ditto suit") remained a novelty at this time.
Overcoats had wide lapels and deep cuffs, and often featured contrasting velvet collars.
Top hats briefly became the very tall "stovepipe" shape, but a variety of other hat shapes were popular.
[edit] Style gallery
 1 - 1855-65 |
 2 - 1860-65 |
 3 - 1855-65 |
 4 - 1862 |
 5 - c. 1863-69 |
 6 - 1868 |
- Eduard de Stoeckl wears a frock coat over a waistcoat with a low front and lapels. He wears a patterned tie. 1855-65.
- British journalist George Augustus Sala wears an overcoat with black velvet collar, wide lapels, and deep cuffs over a frock coat, waistcoat, and tweed trousers. He wears leather gloves and carries a top hat. c. 1860-65.
- W. Curtis Noyes wears an overcoat with very wide lapels, wide cuffs, a contrasting (probably velvet) collar, and braid trim over a frock coat, waiscoat, and trousers which appear to be made of matching fabric. The ends of his large necktie are loosely looped and secured with a stickpin, and then tucked into his waistcoat. 1855-65.
- Composer Wilhelm Taubert wears a dark necktie tied in a bow and slightly winged collar. German, 1862.
- Thomas Henry Huxley wears a three-piece suit. His coat is cutaway in front. His waistcoat has no lapels and the front has a slight point on either side at the waist.
- Canadian journalist Thomas D'Arcy McGee wears a dark double-breasted frock coat over a high-buttoned single-breasted waistcoat and trousers., 1868.
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- Note: Photographs from the Library of Congress's Brady-Handy collection are collectively dated 1855-1865. Where possible, tighter dates have been applied based on known facts about the sitters. See Mathew Brady.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Arnold, Janet: Patterns of Fashion 2: Englishwomen's Dresses and Their Construction C.1860-1940, Wace 1966, Macmillan 1972. Revised metric edition, Drama Books 1977. ISBN 0-89676-027-8
- Ashelford, Jane: The Art of Dress: Clothing and Society 1500-1914, Abrams, 1996. ISBN 0-8109-6317-5
- Goldthorpe, Caroline: From Queen to Empress: Victorian Dress 1837-1877, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, ISBN 0-87099-535-9
- Payne, Blanche: History of Costume from the Ancient Egyptians to the Twentieth Century, Harper & Row, 1965. No ISBN for this edition; ASIN B0006BMNFS
- Steele, Valerie: Paris Fashion: A Cultural History, Oxford University Press, 1988; ISBN 0-19-504465-7
- Tozer, Jane, and Sarah Levitt: Fabric of Society: A Century of People and Their Clothes 1770-1870, Laura Ashley Ltd., 1983; ISBN 0-9508913-0-4
[edit] External links
- 1850s and 1860s Fashion
- 1860s Men's Fashions - circa 1860 Men's Fashion Photos with Annotations
- Garibaldi jacket
- Photographs of Women from the American Civil War Period c. 1859-1865 (with notes on costume and hairstyles)
| Preceded by: 1850s |
History of Western Fashion 1860s |
Followed by: 1870s |
