Big Sleeves of The 1830s

I have a love, hate relationship with clothing in the 1830s. I love the movie “The Young Victoria” If you haven’t see this movie, watch it! Okay, so they may have chucked out some parts of history for stuff that isn’t even true but on the bright side the costumes are gorgeous! The dresses are made of scrumptious silks in soft golds and airy cottons in deep reds and sunshine yellows. The dresses are gorgeous, absouletley gorgeous. 

I mean just look, how can you not fall in love?

The costume designer was Sandy Powell who also designed the costumes for Shakespeare in Love (1998)

                                 And of course, Prince Albert, I love them together so much!

Anyway, onto what this post is actually about:

One thing that was BIG (no pun intended) in the 1830s were large, puffy sleeves.

Just look at these fashion plates and you will see!

And later in the 1830s sleeves became smaller and more elegant:

Women would get the slightly bell shaped silhouette by piling on petticoats until finally they got the beautiful shape above. 

The large, puffy sleeves are called gigot sleeves from the French word “gigot” which means back leg of an animal (because apparently that's what gigot sleeves look like)

One way to get the look was through sleeve plumpers:

From the L.A. County Museum of Art

The late 1820s saw a rise in big puffy sleeves. As romantic, extravagant styles became more popular in the 1830s, the gigot sleeves became a gigantic fashion trend. Some critiques hated the sleeves and nicknamed them ”imbecile sleeves”

Bibliography:

"Gigot Sleeves." The Fashion Historian. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

"Gigot Sleeves." Gigot Sleeves - Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.