published in Paris
This hand-coloured fashion plate is from La Mode Illustreé, a fashion magazine published in Paris. The plate is marked, 'Album de la Mode Illustrée' and shows two examples of women in day dresses. It is dated 1861.
Both dresses have the fashionable wide skirts of the time. They would have been supported by the hooped cage or artificial crinoline which had been patented in 1856.
The crinoline was considered very chic. It allowed women to abandon their numerous starched petticoats and gave them a sense of lightness and freedom. It had a tendency to tilt up and reveal the ankles and the ladies of Queen Victoria's court were forbidden from wearing it.
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