Fashion Timeline

When Illinois became a state in 1818, women’s fashions were changing. In the early 1800s, styles favored a high-waisted, classical look inspired by ancient Greece and Rome. By the 1820s, skirts were beginning to widen and the waistline was beginning to drop.

This dress is simple and plain. It reflected the ideals of a new state and the nation which seemed to offer the promise of opportunity for all. However, women (including the woman who wore this dress) could not vote, hold office, or enjoy the full privileges of American citizenship. At that time in history, those rights and freedoms were reserved only for property-holding white men.

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In the 1830s, women’s fashion embraced a Romantic ideal of female beauty. Sleeves were very large and skirts were very full. This made the tight waist of the dress appear even narrower.

Women were able to follow this style thanks to the rise of the cotton and textile industries in the United States. Increased production of cotton made the fabric much cheaper to purchase. However, the booming cotton economy was only possible through the forced labor of enslaved African-Americans.

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By the middle of the 1800s, middle-class women were encouraged to focus on home, religion, and family. The increased importance of the home was a response to many social changes happening during that time.

Women’s fashions of the 1840s reflected their increasingly restricted, yet morally elevated status in American society. Arm holes were set low. Sleeves were tight. Corsets were used to make the waist look long and narrow. Numerous petticoats were used to support wide and full skirts. All this interfered with women’s ability to move freely in their clothing.

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Dresses of the 1850s continued to have a bell-shaped outline. However, a new, lively style favored bright colors, creative use of trim, and wider skirts and sleeves. Illinois women now had access to more fashion information and goods thanks to growing transportation lines and a stable economy.

Two important fashion inventions are reflected in this dress (originally owned by Mary Lincoln’s sister, Frances Wallace). The wide skirt was supported by the new steel cage crinoline or hoop skirt, which removed the need for many layers of starched petticoats. The purple color is the result of the first-ever synthetic dye, an accidental discovery that quickly became a fashion craze. Both the cage crinoline and synthetic purple dye were invented in 1856.

Sponsored by Patrick and Janice Joyce in honor of their grandchildren

The Civil War sparked both industrial development and expanded farming to meet the needs of the armies. With this economic growth came great success for many northern families.

The hardships of the Civil War did not change the amount of material used in women’s clothing in the North. Very full skirts supported by hoops remained in fashion. The style now included dropped shoulders and waists that sat just above the natural waist.

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Fashions of the 1870s reflected how growing cities and the development of factories affected American society. The defining style of this decade was the bustle, or swept-back skirts. The bustle created a narrower and sleeker outline for women. This style was better suited to walking on crowded city streets.

Fashions from this decade also reflected the growing availability of the home sewing machine. Rather than saving time, the sewing machine raised expectations for fashionable dress. The fussy, detailed trim on this dress is evidence of those raised expectations.

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More and more women had joined the workforce by the 1890s. They worked in offices as well as factories. As a result, women’s fashion evolved into styles that were less complicated to wear, easier to make, and easier to care for than those of earlier decades.

The bustle disappeared for good in this decade. This style’s defining look was a bell-shaped skirt that fit smoothly over the hips and a bodice with large sleeves. Together they created the illusion of a tiny waist.

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