Mary Lincoln's Fashions

[Donna McCreary]

All of these questions, and many more are answered in FASHIONABLE FIRST LADY: THE VICTORIAN WARDROBE OF MARY LINCOLN.

Here are some quick answers:
Eva, the engraving of the dress Mary wore on February 5, 1862 is featured on page 74 of FFL. I found it in the February 22, 1862 issue of LESLIE'S magazine.
Regarding the author's jump from "flowers" to "flounces," it is an easy mistake if someone takes notes quickly and either writes information incorrectly, or can not read their own handwriting. This reminds of the descriptions of the gown Mary wore to the 1861 Inaugural ball. All of the reporters who were present described her gown as "blue," except for one who claimed it was lavender.

Roger - the white dress with a ruffled bodice and skirt is from 1861. How do we know? Because Mary did change her gown at the Brady studio when she posed for this particular photo. The striped silk gown (the one with little violets between the stripes) was worn the same day. Her hair, jewelry, flowers, and the studio furniture are the same in both photos. Both gowns feature fashion details from 1861, not 1862. The main clue to date the dresses is that the striped gown was present to Elizabeth Grimsley when she returned to Springfield in September 1861. There is no way that Mary wore a dress in January 1862 that had made its way to Illinois four months earlier.

About floral head dresses -- they were worn by almost all women when attending a ball. Why? Because ladies wore gloves and their wedding ring may, or may not, be visible. A young man could glance accross the room and tell if a woman was married or single by the position of her floral head dress -- married women wore a crown at the top of their head; single women wore a smaller head dress on the back of the head.

Sally, yes, you are correct. Only the center gown is a reproduction of Mary's dress. The others are reproductions of gowns worn by ladies in Washington society.