I’m reaching back into the farthest reaches of my collection to bring you these lovely fashions from 1841. This illustration comes from the November, 1841 issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book. 
As you can see, the paper is so old that the edges are a bit stained and torn, but I love it and can overlook the flaws to be able to enjoy the styles of 170 years ago! The magazine goes into a bit of detail about each of the gowns, and I will copy those descriptions here so you can get a better sense of how the fashions were composed.
Fig. 1. Black velvet dress, plain high corsage trimmed with a puff, as is also the sleeves, which are tight; the wrists finished with a cuff, which, as well as the sides of the sleeves, are trimmed with fancy silk buttons: the skirt is ornamented with a deep border of fur. Large mantilla shawl of velvet, trimmed with fur. Bonnet of fancy silk.
Fig. 2. A plain colored mantle, made short enough to display the border of the dress. It is lined with cherry coloured stain, and trimmed with a cherry cord. White silk Bonnet, inside ornamented with flowers, outside with feathers.
Fig. 3. Rich satin pelisse: skirt trimmed with fur, tight sleeves, finished with a fur cuff. Large fur cape. Hat trimmed with feathers.
Fig. 4. Child’s dress is of coloured velvet made loose, confined with a cord and tassel, and trimmed with fancy buttons up the front. Large cape, with cotton bonnet and feathers.
A very good book which I happen to be reading right now is called “Victorian and Edwardian Fashion: A Photographic Survey” by Alison Gernsheim. The author uses 235 photographs from the years between 1840 and 1915 to illustrate exactly how fashions of the past looked on real people from that time period. This has been amazing to see, since normally we rely on fashion plates and illustrations for this purpose, and those tend to be highly idealized versions of everyday truth. I found much of what Gernsheim has to say about the first half of the 1840’s interesting, especially in light of the above illustration. According to her, and reflected in this fashion plate, sleeves were long and tight at this time, and colors were more delicate rather than being gaudy and bright. Also, bonnets often featured flowers inside the brim, a look which I really like. Here is a copy of a daguerreotype I found online of a woman wearing such a bonnet.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, DLC/PP-1920:46153
