New Monthly Belle Assembleé, 1837

New Monthly Belle Assembleé, 1838

Fashion plate from La Mode 1839

New Monthly Belle Assembleé, 1839

New Monthly Belle Assembleé, 1840

Fashion plates from Petit Courrier des Dames, 1841
(Early Victorian fashion at its most romantic - and most impractical. These bell-shaped skirts kept their fullness by weighty layers of petticoats, usually including one made of stiffened horsehair and linen - "crinoline". Fashionably cut sleeves inhibited arm movements, while the "poke bonnet" restricted women's vision to the sides.)

Graham's Magazine, 1843

Le Follet, 1846

Graham's Magazine, 1846
(Originally engraved for Le Follet)

Graham's Magazine, 1847
(Originally engraved for Le Follet)

Fashion plate from La Mode, 1848

Graham's Magazine, 1848
(Originally engraved for Le Follet)

Illustrated London News, 1848

Fashion plates from La Mode, 1849

(If there is a single word to describe the fashions of the 1840s, I would have to pick "demure". With all-concealing bonnets, wraps and layers of petticoats, these ladies are almost as hidden as they would be in purda.)

Graham's Magazine, 1849
(Originally engraved for Le Follet)

Illustrated London News, 1849