This January 1854 issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book opens the year with the famous magazine’s blend of hand-colored fashion plates, fiction, and domestic advice. The plates present the winter styles in gowns, wraps, and bonnets favored by fashionable American women.
Under Sarah Josepha Hale’s editorship, Godey’s set the standard of taste for a generation of readers across the United States. Its fashion plates remain prized sources for historians of mid-century dress. A rich primary document of antebellum style, this issue is available here as a free EPUB download. Beyond its plates, the issue’s stories and household notes round out a vivid portrait of antebellum domestic life and feminine taste.