Clara's 1842 Pleated Dress

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a nice Christmas.

The 1840s were a time of great change in fashion. Dresses changed from a gathered, conical shape to the wide bell shape known as a hoop skirt.

Clara's dress shows many of the characteristics of early 1840s dresses. The wide, shallow scoop neck shape was very popular. In the 1830s, sleeves were generally tight with a poof at the upper arm (early 30s) or at the lower arm (late 1830s). In the 1840s, sleeves still could be poofed, but a new style was introduced -- that of layered ruffles for the sleeves. Clara's dress is an early example of this style.

Another fashion element that was very popular in the 1840s was the pleat. Of course, pleats never did go out of style in the early 1800s. They were just employed in various new forms as designers came up with new ways to modify the pleat. Clara's dress shows how wide pleats were incorporated into a pieced bodice.

Clara's dress is short, so she wears some pleated pantaloons down to her ankles.

Her boots are made of leather, with a linen upper sewn on, and buttoned up the side of the ankle.

Portrait of Fanny Hensel, 1842
by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (German, 1800–1882) 
Source: Wikimedia Commons, image in the public domain

If you look at the portrait of Fanny Hensel on the left, you can see a very popular hairstyle of the 1840s. Clara's hair is worn in the same style, pulled smooth, and worn in ringlets over her ears. Clara is also wearing a poke bonnet lined with gathered silk. A large bow ties the hat under her chin.

The original dress was red with little black polka dots, reminiscent of a lady bug. The original boots were dark brown leather with a lighter tan linen upper part. The hat was lined with a funny shade of peach silk (which would not be a good choice to wear with the original red! Choose a nice color that goes with your dress color).


To print Clara's dress, use this PDF file:

Clara's Dress 79 (794k)

Clara is a free, printable paper doll. Clara will be available on this blog as long as I continue to post new fashion pages for her. You can read the introduction for the Clara paper doll here.

To print the Clara paper doll, use this PDF file:

 The Clara Paper Doll (718k)

Clara's 1841 Rose Dress

Clara's dress for this week is a pretty day dress trimmed with roses. In the 1840s, the slope-shouldered look became popular, so dresses were sewn to hide the natural shoulder line, and mimic a round shouldered look. Women would practice holding their shoulders a certain way to accentuate the rounded look. The things people will do to be "in style"!

However, more practical women simply bought well-tailored clothing that were cut to provide the illusion of rounded shoulders. The wide v-neck and off-the-shoulder sleeve seam provide the appearance of sloping shoulders. The wide sleeves and the wide skirt also helped to accentuate the shape, while at the same time making the waist look much smaller.

You may remember from previous posts (like this one and this one) that young ladies in the early 1800s usually did not wear ankle-length gowns until they were teenagers. Instead, a proper young lady wore a mid-calf gown. In the 1840s, she also wore ankle-length pantalettes underneath. Even with a lightweight material, the layers of cloth and petticoats would be very hot in the summer.

Clara also has a bonnet to wear outdoors along with her dress. It has quite a few ruffles and a couple of roses to match the gown. And last of all, some plain boots finish off Clara's outfit for this week.

To print Clara's Dress, use this PDF file:

 Clara's Dress 51 (817k)

Clara is a free, printable paper doll. Clara will be available on this blog as long as I continue to post new fashion pages for her. You can read the introduction for the Clara paper doll here.

To print the Clara paper doll, use this PDF file:

 The Clara Paper Doll (718k)

Clara's 1843 Carriage Dress and Cape

I hear that other parts of the country have snow and icy weather. Denver was snowed in, the BBC was full of weather reports about snow in England, and Sarajevo had three feet of snow. My family spent Friday and Saturday shoveling 7 tons of dirt – not snow. Our citrus trees needed new water basins. If you are in the area, stop by and you can have some lemons!

Nevertheless, despite our beautiful Arizona weather, I decided Clara could use a warm winter cloak. So this is dedicated to all of you who recently cranked up the heater or tossed a few extra logs on the fire.

In the mid-1800s, wealthy ladies had dresses to wear for many different occasions. Evening dresses were worn nightly for dinner or a dance. Walking dresses like this one from 1877 were worn as the lady went shopping or strolling through town. There was no creativity in naming the dresses – all the dresses were named after the time of day or activity they were designed for: evening, morning, walking, riding, carriage, etc.

Carriage dresses were less ornate and more durable than visiting dresses or evening dresses. They were designed for the warmth and protection of the wearer on a long journey in the open, drafty carriages of the day. Clara has a long silk carriage dress for a winter journey. The dress has long fitted sleeves, and Clara is wearing some wide-cuffed gloves.

Clara also has an embroidered cloak for extra warmth. The heavy wool cape provided plenty of protection from the elements, with the added bonus of being quite stylish. The wide collar – almost a half-cape – is a typical fashion design for capes from this era. The leaves were hand embroidered along the edge of the cloak.

A bonnet would provide warmth and protection for Clara’s hair, and would have been the hat style of choice for travelling. This bonnet is tied with an oversized bow that was quite fashionable.

Finally, some simple half-boots with short ties finish off the ensemble. The shoes are not elaborate evening slippers, but are everyday, durable shoes. They are not particularly well designed or fitted, so they would probably be quite uncomfortable.

To print Clara's Dress, use this PDF file:
Clara's Dress 45 (791k)

Clara is a free, printable paper doll. Clara will be available on this blog as long as I continue to post new fashion pages for her. You can read the introduction for the Clara paper doll here.

To print the Clara paper doll, use this PDF file:

The Clara Paper Doll (718k)

Clara's Pennsylvania Dutch Dress

Clara’s Pennsylvania Dutch dress is from the 1820s-1840s. This simple calico dress is typical of the early nineteenth century. The dress is very plain, and a little awkward in its design (the sleeves are a bit strange) – definitely not haute couture. The dress would have been sewn by hand.

Although Clara would be likely to spend most days barefoot, she would have some boots for colder weather, or for dressing up. These boots are not fitted, and just have simple laces on the sides. Clara's boots are made out of thin, fragile leather, which would be ruined by the cobblestones, mud, and messes of the streets in her town. To protect her boots, Clara would have some pattens, which are sandal-like wood and leather shoe coverings. When she had to travel through the streets, she would wear the pattens, and the thick soles would protect her expensive boots.

A sun bonnet would also be a must for the outdoors, both winter and summer. In the winter, the bonnet would keep her head warm. In the summer, the bonnet would protect her face from sunburn.

As a side note, the Americans known as Pennsylvania Dutch are not originally from the Netherlands. The German word for "German" is "Deutsche." So if a person said he was a Pennsylvania "Deutscheman," he meant Pennsylvania German. However, English-speaking Americans understood "Deutsche" as "Dutch," and the German immigrants who settled in that region soon became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch.

This Pennsylvania Dutch dress was a rust red cotton cloth, with a dark gray calico pattern of simple little flowers. The boots were leather dyed deep red. The pattens were also a matching red leather. The sun bonnet was originally white, but has faded to ivory.

Be creative as you color the outfit. I simply provide the original colors of the dress as a reference point for historical accuracy. You may also be interested to know that along with white and ivory, these were some of the colors for everyday clothing in the late 1820s through the 1840s:


To print Clara's Pennsylvania Dutch Dress, use this PDF file:
Clara's Dress 5 (598k)

Clara is a free, printable paper doll. Clara will be available on this blog as long as I continue to post new fashion pages for her. You can read the introduction for the Clara paper doll here.

To print the Clara paper doll, use this PDF file:
The Clara Paper Doll (718k)

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