* historical girls' clothing: chronological listings -- 1890s

Girl's Historical Clothing: Chronological Listings--the 1890s

Figure 1.--This English portrait is undated, but we believe was taken in the 1890s, probably the late 1890s. It was taken at a summer vacation beach resort.

The corseted 'hourglass' look was very fashionable. Women's dresses had destinctive mutton-leg sleeves which become increasingly pronounced. The fashion sensation of the day was the shirtwaist. Instead of the voluminous dresses with hoop skirts or bustles as in earlier decades, young women began wearing comfortable cotton shirt waists and simole skirts, well above the ground. This was at the time a liberating look and the struggle for women's sufferage began in earnest in the 1890s. The look was imporalized by artist Charles Dana Gibson and his Gibson girls. Dana especially liked drawing them in shirtwaists. It is possible to date the style with considerable perscission, although of course not every women wore the latest fashion. Dress and shirtwaist sleeves at the beginning of the decde tended to be tight around the arm, but at the shoulder small, vertical, puff became popular. Lerger puffs extending to the upper arm appeared in 1892. Even wider puffs were used in 1893. The puff continued to grow in 1894-95.and becomes stiffer. The largest puffs were notted in 1896. Women's dress sleeves by 1897 had become quite narrow once more with only a light puff at the shoulder. Sleeves by 1898 were quite long and tight with a well rounded puff high up on the shoulder. Of coursre another complication was that other dress styles worn, not every woman wore dresses with puff sleeves. Another popular style was bishop sleeves. Shirtwaists became popular. Outfits had a full look in front, using both pleats or puffs. Older gils wore the tailor-made two-piece outfis with blouses. A reader tells us about "delineator-style" dresses, we assume that relates to the Delineator Magazine which carried patterns. The dresses have a tight-to-the-body waist starting near the hips and extending up just under the arms, loose frock-like sleeves and tight wrist bands. Their white gloves do not cover the wrist band portion of the dress. The skirt portion is loose and generous. They wear a hat that looks like it is made of a woven material, dark color, and somewhat shiny. The hat has a shallow rise over the head, is flat topped and has a flat brim of about 4 to 6 inches in width.