Fashion in the 1870s Definition

Fashion in the 1870s in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by a gradual return to a narrow silhouette after the full-skirted fashions of the 1850s and 1860s. By 1870, fullness in the skirt had moved to the rear, where elaborate draping was held in place by tapes and supported by a bustle.

1870s fashion in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by a gradual return to a narrow silhouette after the full-skirted fashions of the 1850s and 1860s.

Women's fashions

By 1870, fullness in the skirt had moved to the rear, where elaborate draping was held in place by tapes and supported by a bustle. This fashion required an underskirt, which was heavily trimmed with pleats, ruching, and frills. This fashion was short-lived (though the bustle would return again in the mid-1880s), and was succeeded by a tight-fitting silhouette with fullness as low as the knees: the cuirass bodice, a form-fitting, long-waisted, boned bodice that reached below the hips, and the princess sheath dress or polonaise, a "retro" style based on the fashion of the 1770s.

Sleeves of day dresses were narrow throughout the period, with a tendency to flare slightly at the wrist early on.

Evening dresses had low necklines and very short, off-the-shoulder sleeves, and were worn with short gloves. Other characteristic fashions included a velvet ribbon tied high around the neck and trailing behind for evening (the origin of the modern choker necklace).

Hairstyles and headgear

In keeping with the vertical emphasis, hair was pulled back at the sides and worn in a high knot or cluster of ringlets, with a fringe (bangs) over the forehead. Smallish hats, some with veils, were perched on top of the head for outdoor wear.

Fullness Moves to the Back

The defining movement of the early 1870s is best understood by walking around a dress. From the front, the great width of the crinoline era has gone; the silhouette is comparatively narrow. From the side and back, fashion is busier than ever: fullness has been gathered to the rear, draped elaborately, held in place by tapes inside the skirt, and supported by a bustle underneath. That draping demanded a partner garment, an underskirt heavily trimmed with pleats, ruching and frills, designed to be seen beneath and behind the overskirt. The result was a dress that changed as the wearer moved, with trained, layered fabric trailing behind a smooth front — a deliberate reversal of the 1860s, when width had been distributed all around.

This first bustle fashion was short-lived, though the bustle itself returned in the mid-1880s in a harder, more shelf-like form. Its brief life matters because it broke the reign of the hoop: once fullness could be placed at the back alone, the circular crinoline was finished as the governing support of fashionable dress.

The Cuirass and the Princess Line

What followed was narrowness carried further: a tight-fitting silhouette with fullness pushed as low as the knees. The cuirass bodice gave the style its name and its shape — form-fitting, long-waisted and boned, reaching below the hips like armour over the torso, so the bodice and skirt read almost as one continuous, moulded surface. Beside it stood the princess sheath dress, also called the polonaise in its retro form, based on the fashion of the 1770s. A dress cut in a long line without a waist seam flattered the new vertical emphasis and looked backward for its authority: the 1870s, while inventing a new narrowness, dressed it in a revived 18th-century name.

Narrow Sleeves, High Hair, Small Hats

Every accessory reinforced the vertical line. Sleeves of day dresses stayed narrow throughout the period, flaring only slightly at the wrist early on, in marked contrast to the pagoda sleeves of the 1850s. Evening dress kept its separate code: low necklines, very short off-the-shoulder sleeves, short gloves, and a velvet ribbon tied high around the neck and trailing behind — noted as the origin of the modern choker necklace. Hair was pulled back at the sides into a high knot or cluster of ringlets with a fringe over the forehead, raising the eye still further, and smallish hats, some veiled, were perched on top of the head rather than framing the face as bonnets had. Together, high hair, small hat, long boned bodice and back-draped skirt made height, not width, the fashionable dimension, and gave the decade a recognisably elongated outline from every angle of view.

Common Questions

How did the bustle change skirts in the early 1870s?

By 1870 fullness had moved to the rear, where elaborate draping was held in place by tapes and supported by a bustle. The style required an underskirt heavily trimmed with pleats, ruching and frills, but it was short-lived, although the bustle itself would return again in the mid-1880s.

What were the cuirass bodice and princess dress?

After the first bustle phase, a tight-fitting silhouette followed, with fullness as low as the knees. Its key garments were the cuirass bodice, a form-fitting, long-waisted, boned bodice reaching below the hips, and the princess sheath dress or polonaise, a retro style based on the fashion of the 1770s.

How was hair worn in the 1870s?

In keeping with the vertical emphasis, hair was pulled back at the sides and worn in a high knot or cluster of ringlets, with a fringe, or bangs, over the forehead. Smallish hats, some with veils, were perched on top of the head for outdoor wear.

Fashion in the 1870s