#decade: 1840s

[designedandplated]

Evening and Day Dress for Women and Girls, September 1848.

[pejite]

1850s english manor - historically accurate

Hi! Here's the build I've been working on for the past two weeks. I've made plenty of homes for working-class and somewhat well-off folks, but I hadn't shared a mansion yet, so I was really excited to get this one done. It took me a lot of effort, and I had to cut back on the CC usage and simplify the interiors so Tray Importer wouldn’t crash when exporting the CC.

Anyway! This grand house features a beautiful garden, an entrance hall worthy of a mansion, and a library-living room that leads to the drawing room and dining room.

There are two full floors of bedrooms and bathrooms. The master bedroom is on the top floor and is split into two with a small hallway in between, so the lords of the house can sleep in their respective beds as tradition demands.

There’s also a nursery and a room for toddlers. The mansion boasts a large greenhouse and a full floor dedicated to the staff, where you'll find the kitchens and the servants’ quarters.

Lot details

64x64

§1.228,338 💀

CC included in the download folder.

the interior:

master bedroom(s);

nursery and toddler's room;

floorplans;

download (FREE on Google Drive)

[aliennasaprincess]

1840s dresses were a real moment

look at the material!!

[roberttingle]

they were born in the same litter but separated at the puppy mill😭😭

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Thomas Couture (1815-1879) "The Romans in their Decadence" (1847) Oil on canvas Located in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France

[clove-pinks]

Two men reading Le Charivari by Honoré Daumier, 1840.

Happy Eighteen-Forties Friday, my friends!

[is-the-19thcentury-man-okay]

Rating: NOT CUTE.

The vogue in 1840s men, incorrectly believed to be docile and low-maintenance, has led to many scenes like this. Even worse, some will indulge this behaviour, as though all that plaid-clad cake couldn't do wrong!

These 1840s men need immediate intervention with a book of etiquette: direct his attention to a chapter on the evils of tobacco, a crass and low habit. Giving your 1840s man the fringed joinville necktie or silly little walking stick he desires is harmless; his constant smoking is not!

Never be seen in cigar divans or billiard rooms; they are frequented, at best, by an equivocal set. Nothing good can be gained there; and a man loses his respectability by being seen entering or coming out of such places.

— Etiquette; or, A guide to the usages of society, with a glance at bad habits (1843)

[cagesings]

i know some people are mad at how most productions and most adaptions of the string of pearls/s.weeney t.odd story take place in victorian england instead of the late eighteenth century like how the penny dreadful was set, but i really appreciate how they go with the earlier victorian period rather than later? most other gothic stories take place in the late eighteen hundreds for the vibes and fashion and history and etc. despite the victorian setting, it still stands out.

[stellaluna33]

Ah, yes! This is VERY 1850s in my opinion! The rounded softness of the silhouette, the sheer WIDTH of those ruffled sleeves, the hair... Yes! She is SO lovely!

• Unidentified Young African American Woman, front view.

Photographer: Thomas M. Easterly

Medium: Daguerreotype

[so-i-did-this-thing]

Hello, I have a question about fashion history.

Before I transitioned, I dressed 1850/1860s every day (with the accasional 1960s because miniskirts used to be fun before dysphoria took me hostage)

Currently my style is just misc vintage menswear, and despite all I look for in my fashion history books (the ones I use for my university costume course) I cannot figure out a way to make it more specific to certain era, other than with neck wear (but then you put a tie on and it could be any point in history again!)

What are some markers of specific periods in male historical fashion or what could I read to find out about them?

Ignore accessories right now and concentrate on fit and silhouette.

There is a world of difference between, say, 1840s and 1950s tailoring, even though men have been wearing suits & ties for ages now.

Look at these 2 fashion plates that were contemporary to the decades I just mentioned. Soft hourglass shape vs a sharp-edged wedge.

What I suggest is focusing on whatever era(s) you like best and picking apart the silhouette. Ask yourself things like:

How is this silhouette different from other eras?

Are the garments fitted or loose?

Where do pieces, like trousers, sit on the body?

How does the cut of the clothing influence the wearer's posture?

How does the fit of the clothing alter the wearers shape? What does it hide or change? What does it exaggerate?

What is it about a garment's construction that allows it to achieve these shapes? Pleats, darts, shaping via ironing, hidden structure/padding, etc?

Once you dial in the silhouette, you can then layer on details. But the silhouette is key to looking & feeling authentic!

[vincentbriggs]

Do you need a sewing machine to start making shirts and vests? Is hand sewing an option worth considering, or should I invest in a machine, in your opinion?

That's really a matter of personal preference!

Do you need a machine? Absolutely not! Every garment ever made before the 1840's was sewn by hand, and a lot of them after that too. I've sewn many garments completely by hand, including the early 18th century tiddy-out-violinist shirt, these bright orange breeches, and this green waistcoat.

Is it nice to have a machine? I think so, but again, individual opinions vary!

One of the costumers I follow sews everything 100% by hand because she finds it meditative and isn't interested in using a machine at all. Some people hate hand sewing and prefer to do everything by machine, with maybe a bit of hand finishing if they absolutely can't avoid it.

I do about a 50/50 split overall, maybe skewing a bit more towards hand sewing. I like to do pants, shirts, and nightgowns mostly by machine with some hand finishing, but for jackets and waistcoats I usually do considerably more hand sewing than machine, because I like 18th century tailoring techniques and think they give a nicer looking result. I do most of my buttonholes by hand, or I do them by machine first and then cover them in hand stitching.

Most people who sew do at least some of it by machine, but again, I don't know which way you prefer to work, so I'd suggest trying out both to see how you feel abut them.

For hand sewing, I suspect a lot of people hate it because they're using shitty needles and/or shitty thread, and perhaps haven't found good resources for hand sewing techniques.

Here's a post of hand sewing advice that I found quite helpful a decade ago. Use good needles because the eyes of the cheap ones have jagged edges and will ruin your thread! Use nice thread because the wrong kind will be twisty and tangly and will fray more!

Thimbles are good and useful, and typically they go on the middle finger of your dominant hand, and you use them to push the needle. I prefer metal thimbles and dislike using leather ones, but some people prefer the leather ones, or rubber ones.

The metal ones come in sizes, and I don't know how to find out your size aside from trying them on in person, but I know I'm a size 11.

One very important thing is that if you're hand sewing a garment, look for hand sewing specific instructions on how to do the construction techniques you're going for. A lot of the time when someone nowadays is trying to figure out how to hand sew a thing they'll just try and copy the machine sewn version, and a lot of the time that's inefficient and more difficult and the result looks worse, because machines and hands work very differently!

This is something I'm going to briefly discuss in the outro to the very long shirt video I'm working on, because it's so very common, and I've done it too! On several of my earlier hand sewn shirts I didn't know to turn the edge in on the front slit and do a little narrow hem, so I instead sewed on a facing for the front slit and cut and turned it, just like I'd seen on machine sewn shirts. This made it about 3x more time consuming, and the result was much bulkier and looked worse.

I've got so many more things to say about sewing but it's almost bedtime and I don't want to make this post too long.

For machine sewing, again there's a lot of personal choice. Some people like newer machines, some people like vintage or antique ones. I'm one of the ones who prefers solid metal vintage machines. I grew up using an old cast iron Singer, and the newer domestic machines just feel so plasticy and insubstantial to me. I'm used to ones that just do straight stitch and can also go backwards, but some people are perfectly happy with ones that can't even backstitch.

I do think that for a beginner the vintage machines are a better deal, because if you're patient and look around for a while you can snag one for really cheap at a thrift store, yard sale, facebook marketplace, etc. Also they're mostly metal and therefore harder to break.

I recently got a Pfaff (from I think the 1960's?) at an estate sale for 25 bucks. The zig zag mechanism is stuck and needs fixing, but I cleaned & oiled it up and it works just fine for regular straight stitching.

There are SO MANY online resources for how to clean, oil, and fix vintage sewing machines, especially the more popular brands, and a lot of the time cleaning & oiling is all they need. Read the manual and get an oil bottle with a nice long pointy thing so you can reach all the parts, and get some compressed air to whoosh out the fuzz. If it's old and hasn't been used in years, turn the hand wheel and observe every single place where metal rubs against metal, and Make It Greasy There.

(If you don't have the manual, you can often find those online too. I even found the service manual for my new-old Pfaff! I have the original users manual, but this one's for the people doing repairs.)

Oh this post is getting much too long! If you don't know yet if you like machine sewing, try seeing if you can use one without owning it, perhaps at a sewing class or in a makerspace. I know some libraries can loan out machines. A sewing class would probably be a good idea actually, if there are any available where you live!

Much like how you'll have a bad time hand sewing if you've got shitty supplies and no proper instructions on good techniques, you'll have a bad time machine sewing if it's not oiled well and if the tension is uneven.

There are so so very many things to learn about sewing and I hope I'm not making it sound too overwhelming, because I promise it's not if you take it one step at a time!

Also, when someone who's been sewing for a long time says "You may think you can ignore (piece of sewing advice), but actually that's bad and you will regret it", they're usually right. Oh, how I regret not learning to use a thimble years earlier than I did...

Sorry this post is so long, I hope it's helpful!

Basically, there's no one best way to sew anything, and you should try different stuff and see what works best for you, because everyone has different preferences.

[designedandplated]

"Fashions for April 1843"

[pejite]

An 1840s Lookbook ; Wilhelmina Langley

This is my first lookbook! I’ll start making them for each decade, but instead of starting with the 1830s, I’m going with the 1840s since there’s more CC available, and by the time I thought of doing it, the 1830s had already passed.

In this case, Wilhelmina doesn’t have a party outfit or swimwear since she’s never had the opportunity to wear something like that.

Everyday / hair / dress / shoes

Everyday / hair / dress / apron / shoes

Going out or Formal / hair / hat / dress / shoes / socks

Mourning / hair / hat / dress / shoes / basegame gloves

Sleepwear / hair / dress / socks

Underwear / hair / dress / socks

Hot Weather / hair / hat / dress / shoes

Cold Weather 1 / hair / dress / shoes / socks

Cold Weather 2 / hair / hat / coat / skirt / shoes / socks / basegame gloves

[chic-a-gigot]

19th century fashion plates, designs, etc.

(with late 18th and early 20th century plates)

Tagged by decade:

1790s | 1800s | 1810s | 1820s | 1830s | 1840s | 1850s | 1860s | 1870s | 1880s | 1890s | 1900s | 1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s

Check out today’s plates.

Or check out the art, design, and fashion posts I reblog.

[antiquatedplumbobs]

Antiquated Brindleton

An 1890s Decades Challenge Save File

This save has been almost a year in the making, but it's finally here! It includes a completely rebuilt Brindleton Bay inspired by historic New England towns and set in the 1890s. This save uses a light amount of historical cc and most of the packs.

Download and details under the cut:

SAVE DETAILS:

Includes:

Eight new residential lots

Seven new community lots

Six new households

Builds and households are all located in Brindleton Bay. The world is intended to be historically accurate to about 1890, though some liberties for functionality have been taken.

Builds in other worlds have been deleted. The necessary buildings, like dorms, active career lots, and the high school, have all been left in place.

Townies have been evicted, but not deleted, as I prefer EA townies to fully randomized townies.

If you’d like more period appropriate townies to add, the lovely @jewishsimming has some great historical ones to download and @cowplant-snacks has an amazing tutorial on how to manage your townies with MCCC.

REQUIREMENTS: I have all the packs except Batuu and some of the kits. I didn’t limit myself when building. I don’t have everything listed out here, but I will be uploading all the lots and households to my gallery, so if you’d like to know specific pack usage you’ll be able to check there. If you load in and things are replaced or missing and you think it looks obvious feel free to message me, I’m always happy to try to help you find something else that fits! This save includes historical CC, some is included in my download in folders and some you will need to download from the creators directly. The CC required is listed and linked below, you need to download these linked pieces in ADDITION to the included cc folders.

CC To Download:

@lilis-palace

FOLKLORE Set

@s-imagination

Cottage Kitchen Stuff Pack

@happylifesims

1840s Suspenders Outfit

1900s Male Hunting Fashion

1920s Nightgown

Piteous Outfit

Sylas Fashion Set

Wilbur Outfit

@satterlly

Medieval Nightgown Della

@vroshii

Functional Tennis Set

@vampireloreskill

Antique Standing Camera

Creators Whose CC I Included:

@ameyasims (Better Than a Bush Outhouse, Victorian Swimwear)

@buzzardly28 (Multiple women’s hairs)

@chereindolente (Sacco Chore Coat, Edwardian Child Clothes)

@gilded-ghosts (Boudoir Belle, Victorian Visions, New Woman)

@jewishsimming (Off The Grid Objects, CAS items)

@linzlu (Assorted CAS and BB items)

@the-melancholy-maiden (Victorian Hair and Hat)

@nolan-sims (Potbelly Stove Set)

@pandorasimbox (Get To Church Pack, Azariah’s Sack Suit, Antique Slipper Tub, Heirloom Silhouette Portraits)

@peacemaker-ic (Simple Siding Wall Set, Luxurious Single Bedding V2)

@plumbobteasociety (Some BB and CAS items from the Cottage Garden Pack, HSL Happy Birthday Set)

@twentiethcenturysims (Langtree Hair, Historical High Chair, Quilts for Kids)

@waxesnostalgic (Sportswear Separates, Peterpan Bodysuit)

Thank you to all of these wonderful creators, your historical cc creations make this game a million times better to play and I appreciate all of you so very much. Recommended but not required mods:

Timeless by @pandorasimbox

Default Map Replacements by Deshayan (if you’d like your map to look like mine does in the preview)

Victorian NPC Replacements and Llama Scouts Historical Replacements by @cowplant-snacks

Home Regions by Kuttoe

DOWNLOAD: There are five zipped folders to download, four of which contain included cc, and one which includes the save itself.

Download the "AB_SaveFile" folder, unzip it and simply move the file inside to your saves folder inside your Sims 4 folder (where your mods folder is located).

The included cc is in four folders (to allow for easier upload/download) for build, buy, clothing, and hair. Simply download the folders, unzip them, and place them in your mods folder.

After this you should be good to load up your game and get playing, let me know if you run into any issues, I'm happy to try to troubleshoot. SFS | Google Drive THANK YOU: To all my amazing testers: @epistolarysims @aheathen-conceivably @cowplant-snacks and especially @simadelics who edited my household and build descriptions.

If you use this save file, please tag me in any photos you take, I want to see them all!! This save has been my baby for so very long and I cannot wait to see what you all do with it!

@maxismatchccworldrld @mmoutfittersters

[vinceaddams]

Top 5 historic clothing items we should bring back into style (stockings on men, big cuffs on coats etc.)

Well I am very biased, because my everyday clothes are mostly 18th century menswear inspired, but for a list as short as 5 it's good to narrow it down!

1. 18th century shirts. Big puffy soft linen shirts. Best shirts. Comfiest shirts. Though tragically, since they get softer with more washing, they're at their absolute most comfortable right before they wear out.

(This one's from the post where I copied the tiddy-out violinist painting.) Besides being the nicest softest comfiest, they're also the most economical, being made entirely from rectangles. And they're versatile, they look good with lots of different garments! Someday I will do a very detailed youtube tutorial for my machine sewn shirt method. I've done so many now that I think I've finally got it down.

2. Adjustable waistbands. Why did this ever stop being a thing? 18th century breeches have lacing at the back, then in the 19th century trousers have a buckle tab. Now they do not, even though we're all still humans with bodies that change. (These are my orange silk breeches)

Do you know how many hours of my life I've spent taking in or letting out the waist seams of modern trousers? I don't know either, but I've been an alterations tailor since 2019, so it's got to be a fair amount.

All that waist altering wouldn't be necessary if they still made them adjustable! Waistlines fluctuate, so too should waistbands!!

3. Shoulder capes attached to coats. This was a thing in the late 18th century, and in the 19th, and I think into the early 20th too. It adds extra protection from the rain and snow, and it looks cool.

(c. 1812, The Met.)

(c. 1840-60, MFA Boston. The cape on this one is detachable)

You can make them long or short, and stack them up like pancakes or just have one. I've got 2 small ones on my corduroy coat, and one on my dark blue wool. Both cut from almost the same 1790's-ish pattern.

I also want to give a shoutout to fitted sleeves! I love me some two piece sleeves with a distinct elbow! And the coat pockets were bigger back then.

4. Indoor caps. I don't care what era or how fancy you go with it, I just want people to wear caps indoors when it's cold! This one's super simple, it's just a tube of linen tied with a ribbon.

(Detail from Le Marchand d’Orviétan ou l’opérateur Barri by Etienne Jeaurat, 1743.)

If it's cold in your apartment you need slippers for the feets and a cap for the head. Speaking of which.

5. Medieval hoods. This one is wayyy outside my usual era, but the wintery below-freezing weather has just started here and the knit hat I've been wearing isn't quite long enough to cover my ears. I want to make a simple hat with ear flaps, but I also wouldn't be opposed to trying to work something vaguely similar to this into my wardrobe. It looks so warm!

(Image source. Also she has a printable pattern available!) I actually made one of these once, an entire decade ago. But it was scratchy blanket wool and I've since given it away.

That's some of the main things I think we should bring back! There are lots of other things too, like men's nightgowns, and waistcoats with little scenes embroidered on them, but for this list I tried to be mostly practical.