On My Inspiration Board: Brown Gowns

Simple, natural, and eternally chic, brown is a color in which the name does not do it justice.  While you can describe it in its various tones of chestnut, sienna, or even walnut, the color brown encompasses a wide array of flattering hues.

A very common color in both house and walking/day dresses, seamstresses of various decades created outfits which let the skill and design of the gown shine.  I often notice the lines of a dress more when it isn’t competing with a bold pattern or bright color.

Brown is earthy and grounding.  Synonymous with all things Autumn and harvest.  It is one of those neutrals that can instantly warm the face and evoke a mood much more uplifting than black.

Take a look at this magazine cover…you notice the brown but you also notice the face…a delightful combination.
55a1fcefa5606768b8e122fbb9199f37

And for a more old fashioned take on the homey, albeit domestic, appeal of a brown dress, here is an excerpt from a poem entitled “My Apple Tree Neighbors”

“In her modest brown gown she flits quickly about, 

to make the home neat while her husband it out – 

Providing the dinner which she must prepare

They have fruit every day, and their meat they like rare.”

Now for this month’s collection of historical brown gowns:

Brown Gowns

To see more, please visit my Pinterest Page.

Best Wishes, 

~Aimee

Source: Poem by Abbie Folsom Taber, 1889

3 thoughts on “On My Inspiration Board: Brown Gowns

  1. Pingback: Brown Fabric Samples 1800-1960 | Inside Aimee's Victorian Armoire

Leave a Reply