published in Paris
This hand-coloured fashion plate is from La Mode Illustreé, a fashion magazine published in Paris. Dating from 1865, the plate illustrates two day dresses.
Both dresses have the fashionable wide skirts of the time. During the period 1860-70, the dress skirt became enormous. The hooped cage or artificial crinoline had been introduced in the 1850s to support and puff out the skirt.
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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