Plain brown silk dress with leg-of-mutton sleeves, boat neck and full pleated skirt, with a separate capelet or pelerine. All lined with fine natural linen. Gathering at the bodice front with vertical darts and pleated vee to waistline. Pelerine extends past the shoulders with very long lappets hanging to the knee. At the back, double layered, with notches and vee shape.

Length 980mm, width 280mm.

This sleeve first became popular during the 1830s, with the balloon of the sleeve tapering down to the wrist as one piece. They were held in place with pads, sometimes built into the dress and stiffened with horsehair or starch. At the same time a narrow waist and hourglass figure became the style. At this time, this was not achieved with tightly laced corsets, but clever tailoring – usually by fuller skirts and vee shapes. Shoulder lines were sloped and pelerines usually served to exaggerate this. Queen Victoria’s reign began in 1837, and they went out of fashion at a similar time. They made a return from 1890-1895 with the balloon gathered in at the elbow and shoulder, held to the maximum with pads and boning or wiring.