Describe The Fashion Trends In The 1840's

The 1800’s was full of different fashion trends, from big skirts, to natural frames, to curves all over. Two seemingly very different decades have many differences and many similarities in their fashion. These decades are the 1840’s and the 1880’s. The 40’s were known for large skirts. The 80’s was known for its large bustles in the back, a famous example is in the painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte which is found in the Chicago Art Institute. There were both similarities and differences in the clothes, undergarments, and hair of the 1840’s and the 1880’s.
In the 1840’s the dress style stayed the same. The skirt was bell shaped. The dress had many pleats and other details that signaled the narrow waist of the dress. The waist came and formed at a point at the end of the bodice. There was not much patterns in the dresses of this time. The sleeves of this time were also long during the day, as well as the necklines being
The 1840’s undergarments were started off by a chemise and drawers to help provide a barrier. Then a corset was laced on, corsets were also known as stays. After the corset a corset cover would be added this added a layer of protection for the clothes. Next petticoats were added, a proper lady would have a minimum of six petticoats. This would prove to be very hot during the summer as the petticoats were made of horse hair and were very thick. The petticoats are what gave the dress shape. In the 1880’s they first put on what is known as a combination, combinations are a combination of a chemise and drawers. This protected the women from the clothes and vice versa. After this they would have a corset. On top of the corset there would be a corset cover. Also on this layer there would be a petticoat, instead of having a minimum of six petticoats the 1880’s would have one or at most two. Then there would be a steel framed bustle, this is what gave the dress the large