Maine Memory Network

Taffeta and velvet bustle dress ensemble, ca. 1880

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: circa 1880 Location: Newcastle Media: silk, cotton

Day jacket, ca. 1880

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: circa 1880 Media: wool, silk, metal

The Mainspring of Fashion

The mainspring of fashion is the process whereby members of one class imitate the styles of another, who in turn are driven to ever new expedients of fashionable change.

Northern Threads: Mourning Fashions

A themed exhibit vignette within "Northern Threads Part I," featuring 18th and 19th century mourning jewelry and fashions.

Historic Clothing Collection - 1870-1890 - Page 4 of 4

"In the late 1880s, the bustle simplified in shape and disappeared by 1890. As fashions moved towards the next century, skirts lost the over layers…"

Historic Clothing Collection - 1870-1890 - Page 3 of 4

"… Society Between the mid-1870s and early 1880s, the bulky overskirt 'polonaise' styling gave way to the unusually slim silhouette called cuirasse…"