1870s fashion in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by a gradual return to a narrow silhouette after the full-skirted fashions of the 1850s and 1860s.
Bustles and elaborate drapery characterize gowns of the early 1870s. The gentleman wears evening dress. Detail of Too Early by James Tissot, 1873.
Dress of the later 1870s
Countess Brownlow in artistic dress, 1879.
Hats 1875
1860s fashion in European and European-influenced countries is characterized by extremely full-skirted women's fashions relying on crinolines and hoops and the emergence of "alternative fashions" under the influence of the Artistic Dress movement.
Fashions of the 1860s include square paisley shawls folded on the diagonal and full skirts held out by crinolines. Auguste Toulmouche's Reluctant Bride of 1866 wears white satin, and her friend tries on her bridal wreath of orange blossoms.
A blue silk wedding dress from c. 1860.
Croquet players of 1864 loop their skirts up from floor-length over hooped petticoats. Small hats with ribbon streamers were very popular for young women in the mid-1860s.
A cotton dress from c. 1865.