Early Victorian Quilted Petticoat

From the seller:

Excellent condition to this white cotton quilted petticoat. The designs are well executed, the cotton is crisp and strong.
The waistband has been professionally replaced, is 100% cotton, and was attached by hand, with evenly spaced gathers all the way around the waist, it fastens with two antique milk glass buttons in back.
The quilting goes all the way up to the waist, with the more complicated designs starting at about the hip area, plainer, horizontal stitches just below the waist.
All the sewing is hand. It measures 27 1/4" around at the waist, it's 35 1/4" long, including the crochet.
There is one side seam which seems to be original, as does the crochet edging.
There are one or two light spots, some light storage discoloration. The fabric is crisp and strong, there are no holes, thin, or weak areas. 1830's-50's, with the waistband about 20 years old. 

From Me:

This just looks painful to me. Not to wear, but to do all that sewing by hand. :-)  It reminds me of this blue petticoat at the MET.

Summery Love! 1840's Sheer Dress

From the Seller:

Sehr schönes und in seiner Schlichtheit fast schon elegantes Sommerkleid aus der Biedermeierzeit, ca. 1845. Hergestellt aus weißem Leinen. Geraffte Schneppentaille. Rückwärtiger Verschluss mit Knöpfen und mit Haken und Ösen. Der glockenförmige Rock ist mit drei Reihen von Volants verziert. Halblange Ärmel, die mit feinster Spitze verziert sind. Sehr guter bis exzellenter Erhaltungszustand. Kaum wahrnehmbare, sehr dezente Verfärbungen an wenigen Stellen im Stoff. Ein Haken fehlt. Die Dekoration ist nicht inbegriffen.
Bust: ~ 78 cm
Waist: ~ 56 cm
Length: ~ 130 cm

From Me:

The bad google translation:

Very beautiful and in its simplicity almost elegant summer dress from the Biedermeier period, c. 1845. Made of white linen. Ruffled snap waist. Back closure with buttons and hooks and eyelets. The bell-shaped skirt is decorated with three rows of flounces. Half-bodied sleeves embellished with the finest lace. Very good to excellent condition. Barely perceptible, very subtle discolorations in a few places in the fabric. A hook is missing. The decoration is not included.
Bust: ~ 78 cm
Waist: ~ 56 cm
Length: ~ 130 cm

The bust is 30" and the waist is 20", which makes a lot of sense with what we are seeing. The waist has clearly been elongated with the addition at the waistline - easily covered by a belt. The growth pleats - although starting to be more of a fashion statement rather than actual pleats to be let out by the 1840s- are another indication that this is a young lady's dress and not one for a grown woman.

The shorter sleeves and the pleated front were very fashionable in the mid 1840's. It vaguely reminds me of this wedding gown in the MET's collection given the short sleeves and pleated front.

Men's Colorful Waistcoat

From the seller:

1870s From France men's silk brocade vest in amazingly vibrant color. The brocade is in vibrant green teal, red blue and green. The buttons have a grape motif on the front and have been colored to match the color of the brocade pattern into which they are placed. By that I meat the top button is tinted red to coincide with the red of the flowers behind it. The second button green and the last three a very deep blue to match the background. The back of the waist coat is a chocolate brown glazed cotton with matching fabric Martingale. Lined in a white fine wool that has many moth holes. A little fraying to threads on the back of the neck. Other than that remarkable condition. Truly museum quality.
CONDITION: VERY GOOD
SIZE: CH-38, SH-15, LNG-21

From Me:

1850 Fashion Plate

The print was just too colorful and crazy to me to look 1870's. Also, the style seemed too long - much more late 1840's/early 1850's.

Late 1860's Green Dress Restyled From An 1840's Dress

From the seller:

This is not my area of expertise so please forgive me. Up for offer is a seen-better-days two part outfit that must be either Victorian or Edwardian-era. Top jacket with tails and cord-fringe, a pleated shirt and two additional fringed details. Fabric looks to be silk (?) but has quite a lot of tears. But still intact. Shipping will be $25 throughout Canada or the US. IF less, I'll reimburse the difference. Offers are welcome

From Me:

The dress was cut up from an 1840's dress based on the bodice trimming style.

1845 Fashion Plate

The trim going in a v down the front and back is very 1840's. Fringe was huge as well, as indicated in the fashion plate above.

1867 Fashion Plate

The style did come back a bit in the late 1860's, but as with all fashion, it was tweaked a bit.  The angles and placement are slightly different.

The biggest clue though, really, to this being a remodeled dress is the insides of the bodice.  The original bodice has a button front - the new one just added on the the front (between the fringe front) that hooks.  You can really see how much it was remodeled with the different colored lining.  Because the front we see wasn't there originally - just the fringe- it falls far more in line with a cut up 1840's bodice like in the first fashion plate than the bodice of the pink dress in the second.   It also looks like some of the skirt might have been de-trimmed and that was used as the peplum now for the back of the bodice.

Altogether, an interesting piece of mid-19th Century fashion.

Victorian Fancy Dress

From the seller:

This comes with a wood disc that's difficult to read attributed to..?, also it comes with a bodice/top , long skirt, hat and a long piece of fabric and gloves. This outfit was too small to put on my already small mannquinn , so Iclipped it in the back. It came with a piece of lace that I don't think is period, attached to the the back of the top.also there is a stain on the back of the top , it looks like there may have been a spill on it. The inner circumference of the bottom of the skirt is 138-139", and the waist is 24".

From Me:

Well, the last line is hard but I can easily see Captain Ellis, US ARMY, April 20, 1862 on the little wooden disk thing. As for the dress, I think it's one of those 1840's ones with the trims added for a Fancy Dress in the 1860's - the trim style is very 1860's but the bodice has that elongated point which was popular in the 1840's.

1845 Fashion Plate via Dames A La Mode

Romantic Era Men's Quilted Waistcoat

From the seller:

This vest was in a large trunk that had been packed away many years ago. It had been in the attic of a huge local plantation house since. The trunk had about 20 old dresses, etc in it. Please see my other items for a couple more. Everything in the trunk seemed to me to be from 1870's to 1920. I'm guessing the age of this vest in the middle of there. If I'm wrong, please let me know. The measurements are 19 1/2 at the armpits, stretched out, 22 1/2 max height. As the pics show, there is a finely woven or pressed geometric pattern and 6 nice buttons. Also, there are removable cotton pads in the chest area. It is discolored from age. I have not tried to wash it, as I don't have experience and do not wish to damage it.

From Me:

Hehehe...it has falsies!!!!!! :-) Actually, padding was quite common for men. It helped to better round out their figure.

1819 Caricature of Fashion

Typically, it was at the shoulders but either the seller could be wrong in the placement or the guy that owned this had one heck of a beer belly that he was trying to accommodate a bit better. The actual waistcoat is probably from the early 1840's or late 1830's. This style was very popular for a very, very long time. The biggest difference between this one and the later styles is the width of the collar. Just like the width of ties today show whether it's vintage or modern, the width of the collar then showed whether the waistcoat was new or his grandfathers.

• 1840 Waistcoat at the Met
• 1830 Waistcoat at the Met
• 1840's Waistcoat

The above are just a few examples in the MET that show a similar cut to a waistcoat.