Fashion doll, ca. 1812
Item 48242 info
Maine Historical Society
But how did people know what was fashionable?
Early Americans, who may have been an ocean away from fashion centers in London or Paris, found the answer in fashion dolls, sometimes known as Pandoras.
Dressed with attention to all the details of a fashionable woman or man, the dolls traveled across oceans and national boundaries. Dressmakers or tailors then copied the styles.
Such dressed miniatures had been in use since about the fourteenth century. The dolls were replaced in the early nineteenth century by popular publications such as Godey's Lady's Book, published from 1830 to 1878, which featured a color fashion plate in each issue as well as advice on attire.
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