PA806 - 1820's -1830's Lowell Mill Dress Pattern. This pattern is multi-sized 8 -20. The original appears to have been made in the late 1820s or early 1830s when the sleeves were full. According to family records, this dress was worn by Mary Gregg Butler. The original appears to have been made in the late 1820s or early 1830s when the sleeves were full. After the full sleeve fell from favor around 1836, the sleeves on the dress were banded down. The pelerine capelet is worn with the full sleeves. The original fabric on the dress with the banded-down sleeves is a fine white cotton print with red, blue and brown flowers, leaves and vines. The fabric for the full-sleeved dress is a large poinsettia with morning trumpet flowers and large broad leaves. This pattern is multi-sized 8 through 20. Sizes 8-14 require 7-1/4 Yds. of 45 inch wide fabric; sizes 16-20 require 7-3/4 Yds. of 45 inch wide fabric. 1830s fashion in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by an emphasis on breadth, initially at the shoulder and later in the hips, in contrast to the narrower silhouettes that had predominated between 1800 and the 1820s. Women's costume featured larger sleeves than were worn in any period before or since, which were accompanied by elaborate hairstyles and large hats. The prevalent trend of Romanticism from the 1820s through the mid-1840s, with its emphasis on strong emotion as a source of aesthetic experience and its recognition of the picturesque, was reflected in fashion as in other arts. Items of historical dress including neck ruffs, ferronieres (jeweled headbands worn across the forehead), and sleeves based on styles of earlier periods were popular. Innovations in roller printing on textiles introduced new dress fabrics. Rich colors such as the Turkey red of the 1820s were still found, but delicate floral prints on light backgrounds were increasingly popular. More precise printing eliminated the need for dark outlines on printed designs, and new green dyes appeared in patterns of grasses, ferns, and unusual florals. Combinations of florals and stripes were fashionable. Overall, both men's and women's fashion showed width at the shoulder above a tiny waist. Men's coats were padded in the shoulders and across the chest, while women's shoulders sloped to huge sleeves. (Wikipedia)