1820–1830
Long corsets with shoulder straps continued to be worn throughout the 1820s but gradually additional panels were added over the hips giving a much more clearly defined waist (see figure 3. 22).
Garment bodices also began to lengthen, positioning the waist lower at the midriff position but still well above the natural waistline. Three pattern pieces were needed to create the longer bodice; a front panel with large waist darts or gathers, separate side panels and a back panel (see figure 3. 25). The shoulder seam was still positioned towards the back. Skirts became shorter allowing shoes to be visible. Hems became wider, often with two or three rows of elaborate decorative trimming (see figures 3. 21 and 3. 24).
Figure 3. 20 Fashion plate August 1821 showing a lengthened bodice and wider skirt. © The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, England.
Figure 3. 21 White muslin dress with Ayrshire embroidery c. 1820. The waist is lower and the hem of the skirt is wider with deeper hem decoration. © The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, England.
Figure 3. 22 Corset dated 1825–35. The corset remains long, extending through the waist to the hips. The shape is controlled by an increase in stitching, cording and a busk at the centre front. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Figure 3. 23 1820s petticoat. The shape is simple but there is an increase in width at the hem. Decoration in the form of tucks and frills also begins to add stiffness to the hem. Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009 Designated Purchase Fund 1983.
Figure 3. 24 Apricot and blue checked taffeta dress, c. 1821–25. The waist is considerably lower than in the 1800s and skirts become shorter, with heavy hem decoration enhancing the width of skirts. © Fashion Museum Bath.
Figure 3. 25 As the waist lowers additional panels are need to create a tightly fitting bodice. The pattern diagram above shows three distinct panels; front, side back and back. Sometimes the front panel is narrower and the side back panel extends under the arm to join the front. © Author.
1830–1840
Garment bodices continued to lengthen in the 1830s. The bust was full and remained slightly higher than the natural bust-line. The waist, although lower than in the 1820s, still remained just above the natural waistline. As bodices became longer and more fitted, additional darts and seams were needed to provide shape over the bust (see figure 3. 29 and 3. 32). Gathered fabric over the bust sometimes replaced the darts (see figure 3. 27). Shoulder seams remained towards the back but lengthened as shoulders became wider. Wide collars, lace berthas or puff sleeves also emphasized the shoulder width (see figure 3. 26). To balance the visual effect of the wide shoulders, skirts became fuller and wider at the hem but remained shorter, exposing the shoes and most of the feet (see figure 3. 26).
Often changes in fashion happen mid-decade and by 1835 corsets had developed a much more accentuated shape, showing a clearly defined bust, waist and hips (see figure 3. 30). Petticoats with cording, padded frills and decoration at the hem were worn to give support to the wider skirts (see figure 3. 31).
Three pattern pieces continued to be used to create the bodice of garments; front, back and side panels. However, as the bodice lengthened, the waist darts in the front bodice became much longer and wider, or more often, were separated into two smaller parallel darts under the bust on either side of the centre front (see figure 3. 29 and 3. 32).
Figure 3. 26 1830s fashion plate showing the fashionable wide skirt, puff sleeves and wide shoulder silhouette. © The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, England.
Figure 3. 27 Cotton dress printed in a vine and floral design, c. 1830–33 showing an increase in shoulder width enhanced by the large gathered sleeve head. © Fashion Museum Bath.
Figure 3. 28 Printed dress c. 1830–35 with wide shoulders, a small waist and gathered skirt with a wide hem. Displayed by the author. © The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, England.
Figure 3. 29 Detail of dress in figure 3. 28. The white lines highlight the fashionable double darts in the front bodice in the 1830s. © The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, England.
Figure 3. 30 Cotton corset 1830–35, showing increased waist definition. © Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs James Dowd Lester, 1942.
Figure 3. 31 Petticoat with corded decoration to support the fuller skirts. Also shown are the sleeve supports sometimes used inside the exaggerated sleeves seen in the fashion plate 3. 26. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of Judith and Ira L. Sommer, 1992.
Figure 3. 32 Bodice patterns show an increase in the size and number of darts in the front as bodices become longer and more fitted. © Author.
1840–1850
In the 1840s garment bodices continued to lengthen, extending down to the natural waist level or slightly below, often with a point at the centre front (see figure 3. 33). Skirts were full and tightly gathered or pleated. The fit of the bodice was achieved using large darts, or separate panels with curved seams. Fabric was sometimes cut on the bias to enable an even smoother fit around the torso. Ruching and pleating was also a fashionable way of controlling shaping over the bust, midriff and waist (see figure 3. 38). Shoulder seams were long and shoulders sloping.
As skirts widened at the hem, many gathered petticoats were worn. Quilted and corded petticoats were very fashionable (see figure 3. 37) or an early form of stiffened petticoat made from fabric known as ‘crin’. 5 Crin was woven using horsehair and linen fibres (see figure 3. 36). It kept its shape well and reduced the number of heavy gathered petticoats required to maintain the fashionable dome-shaped skirt profile.