The year is 1852. The lace and embroidered muslin cape is out a fashion and the canezou has taken their place as a medium between the high and low corsages. At least that was the opinion of the writer’s of one lady’s magazine. This 1850s fashion image from Godey’s Lady’s Book shows a canezou of Swiss muslin and is intended for a dinner or even dress for a small company. It should be work with a white muslin or light silk skirt. The body is composed of alternate rows of fine Swiss insertion and puffins, or as the French call them borrillonies, of plain muslin, made very fill. The sleeves are plain to the elbow, where they widen trumpet-shaped, and are finished in the same style as the corsage, edged by a wide row of embroidery. The same also surrounds the throat and edges of the corsage, which is clasped by a belt suitable to the skirt in color and a buckle of pearl, gold or enamel.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
