Victorian Fashions: A Pictorial Archive, 965 Illustrations

Women's fashions during the second half of the nineteenth century offered a delightful display of styles reflecting English, French, and American tastes. This comprehensive treasury of more than 900 crisp black-and-white illustrations ― arranged chronologically and dated by year ― provides a rich pictorial record of clothing styles from that period. Suitable for a wide variety of graphic projects, these cuts will especially appeal to artists and illustrators in search of finely rendered images of authentic Victorian fashions.

Selected by graphic artist Carol Belanger Grafton from such vintage sources as Harper's Bazar, La Mode Illustr e, Peterson's Magazine, Godey's Salon de la Mode and Frank Leslie's Ladies' Magazine, the cuts brim with clear detail and old-time flavor as they record a wealth of evolving styles ― from ornate gowns of the mid-1800s, widened by hoop skirts and elaborately enhanced with ribbons, ruffles, laces, and bows, to turn-of-the-century fashions that produced leg-o'-mutton sleeves, narrowed skirts, diminished bustles, and high-necked bodices (except for evening wear, which exhibited a more daring neckline). Here, for copyright-free use, are hundreds of elegant dresses accented with intricately embroidered designs, shirtwaists featuring lace inserts, and row upon row of tiny pleats, tightly laced undergarments, wide-brimmed hats topped with feathers, flowers, and ribbon; beaded handbags, magnificent parasols, fur-trimmed capes, and much, much more. An invaluable reference to period clothing styles for designers, illustrators, and costume historians, this magnificent archive ― with its entertaining glimpse of the fashions of yesteryear ― will also delight casual browsers and lovers of Victoriana.

A superb resource. -- History in Review.