These dresses show several fashion changes. By 1800 the chemise dress had changed into one with a fitted bodice, and a narrow skirt with fullness gathered across the back. Sleeves were so long that they had to be wrinkled up the arm, a fashion feature that continued into the 1820s. Necklines were low and, for daytime, were filled in with a kerchief or a ruff around the throat called a "betsy".
The yellow silk dress, dating from 1800-1810, is trimmed with black velvet ribbon. The middle dress of printed cotton is late 1820s. The little cape covers a wide neckline. The bodice is gathered to a waistband. The large sleeves are called "gigot" in contemporary fashion notes and continued to increase in size until the early 1830s. They were held out at the shoulders by stiff fabric stitched into the armhole, or by puffed sleeves stuffed with down, called sleeve pillows. Note how the skirt increased in width. Trimming ranged from a simple frill to elaborate puffs and bows.
The green printed cotton dress dated from about 1840. The waistline is now pointed and in its natural position. The bodice front is gathered into the shoulder seams and at the waist. The sleeve now has fullness centred around the elbow and tight pleating, or shirring, above and below, forecasting the narrow sleeve of the early 1840s. The skirt required several petticoats to hold it out in the fashionable dome shape. All the dresses close down the back with either drawstrings, buttons or hooks and eyes.
By 1800 women's shoes were flat, like soft-toe ballet slippers. This was part of the classical influence which came in the 1790s.
