Girl's Historical Clothing: Chronological Listings--the 1870s


Figure 23.--HBC has found this a difficult image to assess. The child's outfit looks much like a boys' kilt suit. There are no props, but there are ome indicators that the child may be a girl. Boys at the time sometimes had ringlet curls, but the center parts with ringlets were less common for boys. We believe that this portrait was taken in the late 1870s, but are not possitive. Notice the long length.

Womem's dress styles tended to change substantiallyat mid-decade. We are not entiurelky sure why. Women in the early 1870s wore their dresses with a rear bustle on the skirt. The sides of the dress skirt were drawn in thus giving a wide appearance from the front and a narrow appearance from the side. Corsets were still commonly used. The short corset worn at the beginning of the decade grew longer at the end of the decade. High dress waistlines were fashionable early in the decade, but became longer. At the same time a new style of two-piece dresses became very fashionable. Women wore outfits with with a sometimes long jacket-like bodice with a seperate skirt. Many jackets extended well below the waisline. The jacket bodices varied widely. Some were worn closed with buttons down the front, others style had open fronts. Often a different material ws used for the jacket so that it contrasted with the skirt. Normally a darker color was used for the jacket than the skit. Detailing included the extensive use of pleating and ruffles. Women began wearing their hair higher. Women might wear black velvet neck ribbons, often with a brooch at the front and tied in the back with a small bow. We notice many rather long dresses.

The 1870s

The 1870s: Plain and plaid dresses: German siblings

The 1870s: Riding outfit: English girl

The 1870s: Dress and tunic: German brother and sister

The 1870s: Print dress: German girl

The 1870s: Skirted suit: American child

The 1870s: Diagonal print dress and petticoat: German family

The 1870s: Long dress and strap shoes: American girl

The 1870s: Hat and coat: English teenager

The 1870s: Jacket and dress: English young woman

Early 1870s

Early-1870s: Hoop-skirt dress: German girl

1870

1870: Dark dress: English toddler

1872

1872: Fancy dress: English girl

1873

1873: Girls and women's dresses: American family

1873: Dress with fringed apron: German girl

1874


1875

About 1875: Girl's party dress: French children

1876


1877

1877: Smocked dress and striped long tiockings: Uruguayan girl

1878


1879

1879: Girls' sailor dresses: English princesses

1879: Girls' dresses: American family












HGC




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Created: October 6, 2003
Last updated: 6:48 PM 1/11/2019