Dress

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.