early victorian fashion project

An Opera Gown from 1833 for the Ensemble Eclectica

A paper doll coloring page which is an Opera dress from 1833. Part of the 1830s fashion history paper doll project. Printable to cut out at home.
A pink dress with white bows down the front which is an Opera dress from 1833. Part of the 1830s fashion history paper doll project. Printable to cut out at home.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

It’s Christmas eve and had this project gone the way I had originally intended, there was going to be whole potential Christmas Carol tie in with the 1840s. Obviously, that didn’t happen. So, instead, I have this entirely not holiday related 1833 opera dress for our 1830s fashion history paper doll. Truth be told, I find the holidays a little exhausting, so I am actually okay with not being the most festive place on the internet.

There’s plenty of hyper-festive places out there if that’s your preference.

An Opera Dress from 1833 from the Casey Fashion Plate Index.

So, let’s talk about opera dresses. In the 1830s, opera dresses occupied a unique position in fashion, blending elements of both daywear and evening wear. Since attending the opera required going out, these dresses often included a bonnet, which was a daytime accessory. However, because the opera was an evening event, opera dresses typically featured lower necklines, similar to those of evening or dinner dresses. Despite this, they were still less formal than full ballgowns. Later in the 19th century, opera attire evolved further with the introduction of highly decorative opera coats, worn over dresses for added elegance.

As I mentioned when I was talking about the 1831 walking dress, evening dresses can be identified by having necklines that are much lower than day dresses. I chose this opera dress, because I really loved the bow details on the skirt. I decided against blue for the color scheme, because I’ve already done a blue dress for this 1830s fashion history paper doll. How many blue dresses does one paper doll need? After reading up on the 1830s in English Women’s Clothing of the Nineteenth Century by C. Willett Cunnington, I settled on rose instead. According to Cunnington, rose was one of the colors popular in the early 1830s. My own observations of fashion plates seems to corroborate this observation. There’s a lot of pink.

For those of you who celebrate, I hope you have a lovely Hanukkah and Christmas tomorrow. I plan to spend mine doing very little, though if I feel up for it, I might bake some cookies.

Later this week, there will be a second color scheme for this gown for my supporting Patrons as a thank you for all their incredible support this year. There might be a third post this week. I’m not sure yet. Things are a little complicated at present.

A Printable Day Time Dress from 1832 for the Ensemble Eclectica

A printable showing an 1832 paper doll dress with full sleeves and a matching bonnet.
A printable coloring page showing off an 1832 paper doll dress with full sleeves and a matching bonnet.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

Today’s 1832 paper doll dress is a bit of a mystery to me. One of my personal pet peeves is that so many fashion plates aren’t clearly labeled with the type of dress. I suppose people in the 1830s did not need the labels, but I do. Because fashion plates are often separated from the magazines, it’s a big headache trying to sort out the context of the costumes. I just don’t really want to bother most of the time.

Here’s what I can say with some confidence about this 1832 paper doll dress. I know it is day-wear because of the high collar. Because the dress has slippers and a parasol, my wager is that it’s a daytime walking or promenade dress.

June 1832 Fashion Plate from La Mode digitized by the LA Public Library

Might I be wrong? Yes, I might be totally wrong.

But that’s my wager based on the fashion plate and my growing knowledge of 1830s fashion.

A few elements about this dress that I absolutely loved. I loved the way the stripes emphasize the waist on the bodice It’s just so smart. I loved the bright yellow bonnet which contrasted rather than matched.

In the 1830s, roller printed cottons were very popular and they often had elaborate striped patterns on them. Roller printing is a method of printing fabric using a large copper roller, like a giant rolling pin, engraved with the design. Because the design is on a cylinder, stripes are very easy to print. Developed in the end of the 18th century, these fabrics got cheaper and cheaper over time. By the 1830s, they were widely available. So, stripes took the fashion world by storm. Plus, stripes really show off the silhouette of the era.

I decided to make my stripes white and pink and green based on this fashion plate from 1831, which is a bit of a deviation from the source material, the french fashion magazine La Mode. La Mode‘s fashion plates are really neat- they show the back and the front of the same costume, but often in different prints. So, you can see the dress on the left and the dress on the right are the same dress- just from two different angles. So cool.

Last, but certainly not least, I really am enjoying this process and I hope you all are too!

A Walking Dress from 1831 for Ensemble Eclectica

This is a paper doll dress is an 1831 walking dress in full color with a matching bonnet.
This is a paper doll coloring page is an 1831 walking dress with a matching bonnet.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

Today’s paper doll gown is an 1831 walking dress. When I wrote about the 1830’s carriage dress last week, I talked about the silhouette of this era. So, I’ll save you all from having to listen to all that over again and focus on walking dresses.

Fashion plate from the June 1831 issue of The Lady’s Monthly Museum digitized by the LA Public Library showing a pair of walking dresses.
Fashion plate from the June 1831 issue of The Lady’s Monthly Museum digitized by the LA Public Library

Like that carriage dress, this 1831 walking dress is designed for daytime wear and intended for outdoor activities like walking. Dresses like this could also be worn when attending informal events, such as visits, shopping, or afternoon social gatherings. Like most day dresses of the 1830s, the necklines were high, covering the collar bone. Along with the dress, there were essential accessories- bonnets and gloves. These bonnets were often quite large with wide brims to shield the face from the sun and covered in lots of ribbon trim. Just like the dresses of the 1830s, bonnets were lavish.

This gown appeared in the The Lady’s Monthly Museum in June 1831. This magazine is a treasure trove of 1830s culture with serials, poetry, music, and, of course, lots of fashion.

When I was reinterpreting this dress for my paper doll, there were several elements that I really loved, both because of the design and in terms of how they reflected 1830s fashion. One of the first things that stood out to me was the color combination. I really liked the periwinkle blue paired with the green. This color combination felt fresh and historically appropriate, as the 1830s saw a wide range of bold and contrasting color choices in women’s fashion. Green was particularly popular, because of the development of artificial green pigments, like Paris green in 1814 and the earlier Scheele’s green.

Unfortunately, this type of green pigment was made from arsenic compounds, so it was very toxic. That didn’t dull it’s popularity. Generally, people didn’t realize how toxic these green dyes could be and it wasn’t until the 1890s that they were discontinued, though green fell out of fashion as a fashion color in the 1860s which might have something to do with the toxicity of the dye. Who knows? It did stick around as an insecticide into the 1930s and 1940s.

Man, history is weird. It boggles my mind to think that this dye/paint pigment, which was so popular in the 1830s, later became used as an insecticide. The things I learn researching paper dolls…

Fashion history often intersects with other unexpected parts of culture in such funny ways. I digress, as I often do.

Next up will be a dress from 1832 later this week.

An 1830s Paper Doll Printable with her Historical Underwear for Ensemble Eclectica

An 1830s printable paper doll coloring page wearing a set of 1830s underwear consisting of a corset, pantalettes, and chemise. Her hair is up in curls and her shoes are tied with ribbon laces. Commentary on the image describes each of these parts.
An 1830s printable paper doll with a set of 1830s underwear consisting of a red corset, drawers, and chemise. Her brunette hair is up in curls and her shoes are tied with ribbon laces.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

The Backstory of All This

I originally planned to spend all of December on a big project. It was going to be a series of paper dolls from 1830 to 1859. Julie Matthews’ December themes (like this one from 2015) inspired this idea, back when I started thinking about it. However, that didn’t quite go as planned — life happens. And that’s okay. My new plan is slightly smaller in scope. I’ll be posting paper dolls with historical clothing from the 1830s (and maybe 1840s and 1850s) on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the rest of December and possibly into January. Who can say? Not me.

I tend to hesitate about sharing things before they’re complete, because I dislike leaving projects undone. But lately, I’ve realized that’s a bit silly. Drawing paper dolls isn’t life or death, and it’s okay if things don’t go exactly as planned. I’d rather share what I’ve done and keep moving forward than leave the work sitting unfinished on my laptop. Plus, I think you’ll enjoy seeing the project even if it doesn’t work out like I had originally imagined it would.

In fact, no one would know I’d planned to do the 1840s and 1850s, if I hadn’t said anything. But here I am, being very honest. (I haven’t even started collecting reference images for the 1850s, so I am quite behind on that one. Probably won’t happen, which makes me sort of sad, honestly.)

Women’s Underwear In the Early 1830s

So, let’s talk a little about 1830’s women’s underwear, since today’s 1830s paper doll printable is a lady with some undies on. I based her underwear off this set from the V&A museum, though I made the stays/corset colorful based on this one.

In the 1830s, women’s underwear primarily consisted of a chemise, pantalettes, petticoats and a corset/stays. (Fun fact: The words “corset” and “stays” are both used in the 1830s, but the term “stays” largely falls out of use by the end of the decade.) Generally, these corsets used seams and cording providing support, rather then boning. (Also, boneing doesn’t mean bones- it means whale baleen.)

The chemise was a loose, knee-length garment made from lightweight cotton or linen, worn directly against the skin to safeguard outer garments from perspiration. Chemise’s had wide necklines. Pantalettes (also spelled pantaletes) or drawers covered the legs and provided some more modesty. I can’t seem to definitively determine which is the more precise term. Both terms seem to have been employed to describe similar garments and I’m not an expert on 1830s clothing.

Though not appearing in this 1830s paper doll printable, petticoats supported the wide skirts of the era. Here’s a lovely example from the Met. This is before anyone invented hoopskirts, so women wore lots of petticoats. Additionally, women often wore sleeve supports (like this or these) to get the right shape for the huge puffed sleeves of the era called, “sleeve puffs” which is the most wonderful name. I didn’t add sleeve puffs to the paper doll, because I wanted flexibility with sleeve shape, as it changes throughout the decade, and the puffs would have made that more difficult. Sometimes with paper dolls, functionality has to trump historical accuracy. (But man… I really do want to draw sleeve puffs someday.)