Perth County Fashions 1860's (pt. 2)

In the previous blog I posed the question of whether the dresses of woman in pioneer Perth County in the 1860's were a reflection of current fashions in Europe and the large centres of North America, or were they completed removed from the influences of the outside world. The early 1860's was a period in which hoops or multiple petticoats held the skirts out into a dome shaped floating circle. As the 1860's progressed the fashion designs began to show skirts that featured a slight movement towards the back. Then, as the decade progressed, sleeves narrow, and the circular hoops decreased in size at the front and sides and increased at the back. This shift in emphasis can be seen in the top picture taken in 1868 of Princess Louise, the daughter of Queeen Victoria. The next picture of an unknown woman, taken in the Cooper studio in London Ontario sometime after 1867, clearly shows the highthened emphasis on the train. In order to show off this new silouette, photographs begin to use a sideview photo of the subject. How quickly the fashions moved from London, England, to the big Canadian centres such as Montreal and then into the rural communities of Perth County is an interesting question. One website suggests that it was not uncommon for fashion plates to appear in North American periodicals a year or more after they first appeared in Paris or London. While the pace at which fashion trends moved through the different layers of society may be unclear, it is evident that young women in Perth County followed the fashion dictates of the time. The final two pictures show Gordon's grandmother Harriotte Hemsley and her younger sister Carrie in photos taken in the Owen studio in Stratford. Harriotte was born in 1850 and was married in 1872 and therefore it is reasonable to suggest that these pictures were taken in the 1860's. Based on the evidence of these pictures it would seem logical to conclude that young women in Perth County in the 1860's were aware of current fashions in the major centres of Canada and of Europe. While the material and the detail in the dresses worn by the women in Perth County might be less sophisticated than the comparable dresses worn in Europe, the differences were the result of social class and wealth rather than in geography.