I've always loved large, fluffy skirts. I may not be one for trims and frill, but a good, full skirt is always a must.
For the past few years, I've focused my costuming on 18th century clothing and construction. The large skirts, fitted gowns, and pretty caps all call to me.
But as I've grown as a costumer, I realize that I have always loved the Romantic silhouette, and have not done any costuming for this period.
After re-watching the 2011 adaptation of Jane Eyre (for the hundredth time), I realized that this time period was what I had been missing in my costuming wardrobe.
What is the Romantic Period?
The Romantic Period in literature, music, and general culture dates from about 1820-1850. This is a transition period; we move out of the Federal and Regency periods, and into the the height of the Industrial Revolution around 1850.
I've decided to focus for now on clothing from the year 1837-1845. I like to think of clothing during this period as a transition: sleeves are shrinking, skirts are widening, and though we see the split busk and metal eyelets appear in the 1820's, the inventions of the sewing machine, ready to wear gowns, and the cage crinoline haven't 'industrialized' fashion yet.
Late Romantic Period Features:
There are a few key features of the Romantic Period after 1836:
1. 'Deflated' Sleeves.
Sleeve sizes ballooned in the 1830s, but quickly deflated. The mark of the later Romantic Period is the full, sagging sleeve at the end of the 1830s, later replaced by a slim, fitted sleeve in the 1840s.
As the 1840's continue, we see a cap sleeve for evening wear, and in dinner wear, we even see my favorite of all sleeves: the 3/4 length.
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| 1835-1838 ca. Collection Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti. |
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| Wiener Zeitschrift, July 1840 |
2. Soft, Belled Skirts.
The slim skirts of the first two decades of the 19th century expanded with the sleeves of the 1830's. These full, buoyant, ankle-length skirts are as important to the '30s as the gigantic sleeves. In the late '30s and '40s, the skirts are still full, but become floor-length. Crinoline petticoats, corded petticoats, and multiple starched petticoats gave skirts the soft, belled look typical of the period.
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| Fashion print from 1838. Le Follet Courrier de Salons ModeMuseum Provincie Antwerpen |
3. Low-set Shoulders.
This style is constant throughout the Romantic Era. In the 1820's, we see the start of a wider shoulder in spencers and pelisses. In the 1830's, huge sleeves necessitated a wider-set sleeve. But when the sleeves shrank, shoulders remained wide, and stayed wide until the 1870s. They balance out the voluminous skirts, and place emphasis on a slim waist. A significant downside to this trend is limited mobility in the arms; a fashionable woman was often unable to lift her arms above her head due to the length of bodice shoulder seams.
4. Chemisettes and Collars.
Chemisettes, garments made of fine, white material to fill in a low neckline, were incredibly popular, and often necessary to wear during the day. Chemisettes provided cover to the shoulder areas, and white lace or ruffled collars extended over higher necklines. Small chemisettes, resembling the plastrons of the Medieval Period, were often worn with V-necked bodices.
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| Late 1830s, Kyoto Costume Institute |
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| 1843 - La mode pendant quarante ans de 1830 à 1870 by Louis Colas |
5. Curved Darts.
In the 18th century, The tubular body shape created by stays meant that darts were not necessary to fitting. During the Regency Period, soft gathers molded the natural form of the torso and bust. In the 1820's and '30s, darts replace gathers, and the new 'ogee' shape of corsets necessitates darts. In the 1840's, the darts become curved, starting at the bust point, and curving down to meet almost at center front (Waugh, The Cut of Women's Clothes 1600-1930, 139)
6. Cartridge Pleating.
One of my favorite elements of the Romantic Period is the cartridge pleating. The controlled fullness of cartridge-pleated skirts are responsible for the soft, dome-like silhouette. The skirt was cartridge pleated directly to the bodice during this period.
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| 1840s, Georgia Historic Clothing & Textile Collection |
7. Fully-Lined.
Unlike the gossamer gowns of the Regency Period, Romantic Era clothing was sturdy and completely lined. The bodice and skirts were usually lined with a glazed cotton, often in a dark brown. The lining supported heavier-weight dress fabrics, and kept the pricey fabrics protected from oils and sweat.
8. Shirred Bodice and Sleeves.
Shirring and smocking were incredibly popular during this time. This practice of taking small tucks, pleats, or gathers from shoulder to bottom of bodice adds fullness to the bust area and tapers down to emphasize the small waist of the period. On sleeves, the shoulders or upper arm were often shirred or smocked, releasing into large drooping sleeves at the elbow.
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1841-1844, Metropolitan Museum of Art
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9. Long, Pointed Bodice.
The Romantics took a cue from the late 16th and 17th centuries, and elongated their bodices. A long, slim pointed bodice was a drastic change from the high and round waistlines of the earlier Regency period. The emphasis became a thin, defined waist between wide shoulders and a belled skirt.
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| Portrait of Sophia Kushnikova by Pyotr Vasilievich Basin, 1839 |
10. Berthas.
The Bertha. I had always thought that these necklines were a bit frumpy when I was younger, but I've come around. They allow for bare shoulders and decolletage, without showing the dreaded upper arm area. They can be pleated, gathered, or smooth. After studying fashion plates from the 'Teens and 'Twenties, it looks as though they may have evolved from the high pleated and gathered bodices of the Regency period.
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| 1841 Queen Victoria from Steve Conrad archive |
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| 1818 Ackerman's Plate 30 - Dinner Dress |
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| Ball gown of Princess Zinaida Ivanovna Yusupova, Imperial Russia ca. 1826-27 |
Those are a few defining features of Romantic Era clothing, and they are elements that I have really come to love.
Next up: Romantic foundation garments!
Sources:
Arnold, Janet. Patterns of Fashion 1: Englishwomen's Dresses and Their Construction C. 1660-1860. Drama Book Publishers, 2005.
Falken, Linda. 100 Dresses: the Costume Institute, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011.
Fukai, Akiko. Fashion: a History from the 18th to the 20th Century. Taschen, 2006.
Hollander, Anne. Seeing through Clothes. Univ. of California Press, 2009.
Tortora, Phyllis, and Keith Eubank. Survey of Historic Costume. Fairchild Books, an Inprint of Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015.
Waugh, Norah, and Judith Dolan. Corsets and Crinolines. Routledge, 2017.
Waugh, Norah, and Margaret Woodward. The Cut of Women's Clothes, 1600-1930. Routledge, 2011.
