The High Style of Mary Todd Lincoln

One of the Lincoln’s nurses, Rebecca Pomroy, described Mary Todd Lincoln as a “fashionable woman of the world”. Having been educated by a governess in etiquette, speaking French, and social matters she was far from a country wife. She came from a wealthy Kentucky family and even though far from Paris or New York, she had the latest fashion trends made up for her. And, some of her more interesting dresses from the time of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency survive in photos and are in museum collections around the US. Here is a look at the chic fashion of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and how it evolved over time.

Her fondness for bell skirts, supported by hoops, was very on trend for the middle of the 19th century. Though impractical, these dramatic skirts made for flashy entrances to events and balls.

Her inauguration gown for President Abraham Lincoln’s first term had a lace “bertha” collar which was considered very elegant at the time. Instead of being towars the neck, this was an off-the-shoulder look that was only suitable for formal and evening events. The skirt of the dress was covered in a large floral print and Swiss dot pattern and she echoed the flowers by placing a corsage at the bust and wearing flowers in her hair. The look was very feminine and charming, almost as if she was going to a birthday party instead of a government ceremony. Illustrations of the dress were widely published which left no doubt to the hunger of the public to know what she was wearing.

During Lincoln’s presidency she was criticized for spending lavishly on not only her clothing and jewels, but on redecorating the White House, having replaced some of the worn features like the carpets and buying more ornate furniture.

For the jewelry her husband bought her a set from Tiffany in seed pearls and backed in mother of pearl. The demi-parure included two link bracelets and one necklace totaling $580. This style was popular in the 1800s. The short type of necklace we would call a choker today was one of her signature styles.

But, that type of fashion-first look would become her trademark in her years as the President’s wife. The floral dresses were part of a theme she repeated in outfits that harkened back to the inauguration dress.

She was also fond of contrasting details, which can be seen in earlier portraits from before she was First Lady and again in the purple velvet ensemble seen below. It is trimmed in white satin piping with white buttons and white lace collar, but most notably this dress is convertible. It transforms from a day dress with longer sleeves into an evening outfit with the sleeves replaced by lace. Many of her most famous dresses were designed and produced by her personal seamstress, a woman born into slavery in 1818 who ended up creating some of the most spectacular dresses in presidential history.

Elizabeth Keckley was the talent behind many of the dresses seen here, having worked as a seamstress to purchase her and her son’s freedom before coming to Washington DC. There she soon made a name for herself making dresses for the wives of lawmakers and officials. She made 15-16 dresses per season for the First Lady and became one of the first Black women to publish a book in the US when she wrote about her 4 years designing for the First Lady.

This silk moire dress also featured bold stripes mixed with florals, a combination of patterns again like her inauguration dress. She was not afraid of strong patterns it seems. The dress below was subsequently altered to fit another wearer after the former First Lady purged her closets in the wake of her husband’s assignation in 1865. She attempted to sell her highly decorated dresses to earn some money, as she was not granted a widow’s pension until 1870, after years of worsening finances and health. She faced the debts of the White House improvements personally after the assassination of President Lincoln.

Queen Victoria wrote to the First Lady shortly after the news of the President’s death reached her to convey her condolences, stating that she wanted to, “personally express my deep and heartfelt sympathy with you under shocking circumstances of your present – dreadful misfortune. No one can better appreciate, than I can, who am myself utterly broken hearted by the loss of my own beloved husband, who was the light of my life, my stay, my all, – what your own sufferings must be, and I earnestly pray that you may be supported by Him, to whom alone the sorely stricken can look for comfort in their hour of heavy affliction.”

Like Queen Victoria, the First Lady went into mourning after the death of her husband. For the rest of her life she wore dark colors and even had mourning jewelry made in honor of her slain husband.

She wore a jet or onyx mourning timepiece for the remainder of her life, yet another symbol that she was not coming out of mourning.

Yet, even in her mourning she still favored lace and flowers, two aspects of fashion that never failed to capture her imagination, even hht her lowest points.