Dress

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fashions worn by American women in the early nineteenth century were directly influenced by the modish toilettes of London and Paris. American dressmakers and tailors kept up a regular correspondence with their European counterparts, disseminating news of the latest innovations to their customers. Among the trends passed across the Atlantic from England was a preference, beginning in the fall of 1818, for a shade of marine blue favored by the Duchess of Clarence, recently married to the future William IV. London fashion magazines noted the popularity of “Clarence blue,” a pronouncement that was reprinted in American periodicals. This dress, of Clarence-blue silk twill, reveals the international influences on American fashion, in both its color and the disposition of its finely applied satin trimming.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art