Fashion Plate - Evening Dress and Costume Antique, 1833

Published in the Court Magazine, No. 11, May 1833 by Edward Bull 26 Holles Street Cavendish Square

This fashion plate, dated 1833, displays the popular “gigot” sleeve. This sleeve style creates the illusion of a narrow waist with the exaggeration of the shoulder. Several methods created the extra volume needed for the gigot, including the addition of whalebone strips or hoops sewn into the sleeve to support the fabric. Another utilized donut-like pads around the upper arms. 

The dresses are labeled “Evening Dress" and "Costume antique.” Two features of the dresses evoke eighteenth-century fashion. The first is the flowered fabric which imitates the heavy silk brocades that characterized women’s gowns of that century. Second is the skirt of the seated figure, which splits in the front to reveal a ruffled petticoat, similar to the open robes popular from 1700 to 1790.

The gigot in this fashion plate displays how the added volume creates a sloping shoulder, with much softer lines surrounding the upper arms. The plate has been drawn with much detail, including the flowered pattern and fluidity of the fabric of each dress, the hairstyles worn by each woman, and accessories.

The gigot was extremely popular during the 1830s , and although short-lived, it did set the long-lived desire for the hourglass figure that is still seen today. The hourglass style has evolved since, and is modified in different ways throughout history, but it still has the basic concept that was desired with the gigot. In a way, this indicates how fashion plates from even the 19^th century can reveal more about the modern fashion culture than about the culture of its time.

References

Bohleke, Karin J. "Americanizing French Fashion Plates: Godey’s and Peterson’s Cultural and Socio-Economic Translation of Les Modes Parisiennes." American Periodicals: A Journey of History, Criticism, and Biography 20.2 (2010): 120-55. Project Muse. Web. 

"Gigot Sleeves." Fashion Encyclopedia. Web. 22 May 2015.

Katy. "Gigot Sleeves." The Fashion Historian. N.p., 6 Mar. 2011. Web. 22 May 2015.