What Does Southern Belle Mean

Southern Belle Fashion 1830 - 1831

Godey's Lady'southward Volume Fashion Plate 1830

Southern Belle Fashion 1831

Godey's Lady's Book Fashion Plate 1831

The way of the Antebellum south, or more specifically the Southern Belle style, was centered effectually traditional Victorian hoop skirts, grandly embellished with ribbons and bows. Considering Southern Belle's were more well-to-do, the elaborate and grand styles of the time were a symbol of wealth and status in order. The elite women of the Antebellum S enjoyed French and English language fashions. If financially able, women visited Europe and brought back designs from Paris and London to bring to seamstresses in the states.

Some of the nigh memorable and stereotypical fashions when people think of the Southern Belle come from their evening attire. Evening fashions featured drop shoulder sleeves, depression necklines, and voluminous skirts, held out past layers of petticoats, crinolines, or hoops. However, twenty-four hour period-wear dresses used opposite styles, and featured high necked bodices and sleeves. It was unseemly for a woman to bear witness skin earlier belatedly afternoon. As pale skin was the way fashions covered as much pare as possible, ad parasols were pop to carry in order to avert sunight.

One interesting aspect of women'southward skirts was the hem. Today, a hem is turned under and stitched. During Victorian times, and in the American Civil War era, hems were spring past a strip of fabric. This material could be removed and replaced if the hem showed article of clothing. This was a helpful thing at the time so dresses could be refurbished and repurposed over and over in lodge to extend wear. [6]

Mary Todd Lincoln Dress

Mary Todd Lincoln Dress at the Smithsonian

The elite women of the s wore fabrics that were harder to come past and more expensive. For case, silk, fine lawn, and muslin were typical, and velvet for the colder months. White was a popular color in warm weather condition for women with status. Big prints were difficult to match and restricted to the wealthy as the voluminous skirts were made of up to 5 yards of fabric. When using a print, stripe or plaid, fifty-fifty more material was needed, which increased the price of handmade dresses. [half-dozen]

Godey's Lady's Book 1830

First edition of the Godey'southward Lady'due south Book

Godey's Lady's Book Lace Making

Exerpt from the Godey'due south Lady's Book detailing laces and the techniques at which to make them

Women typically got their fashion insight from magazine subscriptions and books. One of the near popular magaizne subscriptions at this time was the "Godey's Lady'southward Volume". The magazine was published by Louis A. Godey in Philadelphia betwixt 1830 and 1878. Godey intended to take reward of the popularity of gift books, as the market and demand for them boomed, and many of which were marketed specifically to women. Each issue contained verse, articles, stories, and fashion c reated by prominent writers and other artists of the time. Because of the expense of the book, which was $3, avid readers tended to be from the upper class. Along with style, writers of this book likewise includedarticles focused on writing techniques and offered reading lists similar to those offered to college students. Many articles were written nigh the pedagogy of women, and the belief that women'south pedagogy should be like to that of men and more professions be open to women, including medicine. [7]