Fashion Plate Friday from the Forties!

You don't see much about the 1840s online. Nothing about the decade really stands out fashion-wise. The chief characteristic was probably the onset of the all-encompassing bonnet and the rise of the layered bell skirt (crinolines would come later). The slopey neck was in and hairstyles were tight, oiled, and contained (a big swing from the 30s when everything was curled, frizzed, and piled high). Even the colors of the 40s seemed to have been rather dour and Puritan. Bad decade for men's pants too: balloony and wasp-waisted with stirrups and tightly fitted jackets (corsets for men were still widely in vogue in this era). 

So here's a plate to commemorate sch fun times! This was probably originally printed in Graham's, but I'm not 100% certain.