Brown silk dress, ca. 1830
Item 11571 info
Old York Historical Society
By 1837, the year the young Queen Victoria ascended to the throne in England, women's dress had begun to take on a rather prim sentimentality.
Fabrics were heavier in design and weight and bright colors gave way to more somber tones. Brocaded silks were particularly popular.
In spite of whalebone supports, hoops and swans' down padding, the enormous sleeves of the 1830s reached such an extreme that they began to droop.
Many variations of sleeve style were seen from 1837 to 1843 when fullness was caught down from the shoulder with ruching, pleating, and gathering.
Bonnets became less exaggerated in size and, after about 1840, hemlines began to drop back down to the floor.
Item 6 of 24
