The Delineator (July 1883)

I purchased this Victorian era fashion magazine from a seller on Abebooks. I was very impressed with the condition it's in. Despite some foxing, the pages and cover are pretty sturdy and unmarred by bends or rodent nibbling. Unfortunately the staples that bind it were set a little too close to the text, so there isn't much margin on some of the central pages.

Because this magazine is from the middle of 1883, it falls right between the end of the natural form period and the beginning of the late bustle era. I thought it was rather amusing that there are both natural form and mildly bustled outfits sprinkled throughout it. I guess the switch over was more gradual than most people present it as.

I had a bit of a fight with the color correction in my scanner software while I was scanning this magazine. I wasn't planning to correct the pages to pure white, since I don't think this looks as nice, but my settings got smashed part way though the scanning. As a result some pages are much whiter than others. In general the covers were a reddish brown and the interior pages were a soft tan/cream color.

I spent about 7 hours scanning, resizing, and building the web page. I've managed to automate some of the image resizing using ImageMagick, which cut down on the effort required somewhat.

The thumbnails below link to the 150 dpi copies of the magazine pages. If you just want to read the magazine (rather than print it out) these copies should work just fine. I have 300 dpi versions of these images, which may be available at some point in the future when I find hosting that can handle the size of them again.

Download the individual pages:

• Cover
  
• Inside of Front Cover
  
• Seasonable Styles
  
• Seasonable Styles (cont.)
  plus "Ladies' Outdoor Toilette" (in plaid) picture
  
• Seasonable Styles (cont.)
  plus "Ladies' Toilette" (back) picture
  
• Fashions for Misses
  plus "Ladies' Costume" picture
  
• Fashions for Girls
  plus "Ladies' Street Basque"
  
• Fashions for Girls (cont.)
  Fashions for Boys
  plus "Ladies' Costume" (front and back) pictures
  
• Details on some of the pictured outfits
  plus front and back pictures of two wraps
  
• Details on some of the pictured outfits
  plus front and back pictures of "Ladies' Coat, with Vest"
  and "Ladies' Dressing-Sack"
  
• Details on some of the pictured outfits
  plus front and back pictures of "Ladies' Long Basque"
  and "Ladies' Basque"
  
• Details on some of the pictured outfits
  plus front and back pictures of "Ladies' Deep Basque"
  and "Ladies' Shirred Waist"
  
• Details on some of the pictured outfits
  plus front and back pictures of "Ladies' Corset-Cover"
  and "Ladies' Over-Skirt"
  
• Details on some of the pictured outfits
  plus front and back pictures of "Ladies' Walking Skirt"
  
• Details on some of the pictured outfits
  plus front and back pictures of "Ladies' Walking Skirt"
  
• Details on some of the pictured outfits
  plus "Ladies' Sack Chemise"
  and "Ladies' Night-Dress, with Yoke Back"
  
• End of details on some of the pictured outfits
  and
  Styles for Misses and Girls
  
• Details on the misses and girls styles
  plus pictures of "Misses' Outdoor Toilette"
  and "Misses' Polonaise Costume"
  
• Details on the misses and girls styles
  plus picture of "Misses' Costume"
  
• Details on the misses and girls styles
  plus pictures of "Misses' Costume"
  and "Girls' Outdoor Toilette"
  
• Details on the misses and girls styles
  plus pictures of "Girls' Costume"
  and "Misses' Polonaise"
  
• Details on the misses and girls styles
  plus pictures of two different girls' costumes
  
• Details on the misses and girls styles
  plus front and back pictures of "Girl's Costume",
  "Girl's Jersy Costume", and "Girls' Low-Necked Over-Dress"
  
• Details on the misses and girls styles
  plus front and back pictures of "Misses' Basque",
  "Misses' Corset-Cover"
  (with low and high neck options and optional sleeves),
  and "Girls' Under-Waist and Petticoat, Combined"
  (with low and high neck options and optional sleeves)
  
• End of details on the misses and girls styles
  plus front and back pictures of "Misses' Walking Skirt"
  and the beginning of Styles for Children
  with pictures of "Misses' Sack Chemise, with Round or Square Neck"
  
• Styles for Children (cont.)
  with pictures for "Child's Dress" and "Child's Costume"
  
• Details of the childrens styles pictured
  plus pictures of "Child's First Short Cloak",
  "Child's Costume", and "Child's Gored Dress"
  
• Details of the childrens styles pictured
  plus pictures of "Child's First Short Cloak with Cape",
  "Child's Low-Necked Apron",
  and "Child's Under-Waist and Drawers, Comined"
  
• Details of the childrens styles pictured
  plus pictures of "Infant's Night-Dress",
  "Infants' Bib", and "Boys' Drawers"
  
• The end of Styles for Children
  with picture of "Boys' Under-Waist and Drawers, Combined"
  and the beginning of Illustrated Miscellany
  (which starts off with Hats and Bonnets)
  
• More on hats and bonnets including pictures of
  "Ladies' Poke Bonnet", "Ladies' Flower Bonnet",
  a second "Ladies' Poke Bonnet", and "Ladies' Bonnet"
  as well as a section on Stylish Lingerie
  
• An article on Dressmaking at Home as well as pictures of
  "Ladies' Hat", "The 'Melville' Hat", "Girls' Hat",
  and "Ladies Bonnet"
  
• Dressmaking at Home (cont.)
  plus pictures of "Ladies' Sailor Collar",
  "Ladies' Fichu", and "Ladies' Fancy Handkerchiefs"
  
• Dressmaking at Home (cont.)
  plus pictures of "Fancy Neck-Dressing",
  "Arrangement of Vest-Facing, with Lace and Ribbon Garnitures",
  "Jet Trimming for a Dress-Body", "Fancy Cuff-Facing"
  and "Cuff Finish for a Sleeve"
  
• Dressmaking at Home (cont.)
  plus pictures of "Lace Garniture for a Sleeve",
  "Fashionable Skirt-Decoration",
  "Decoration for a Dress-Body",
  and "Collar Facing for a Basque"
  
• The end of Dressmaking at Home
  pictures of "Stylish Sleeve-Trimming",
  "Trimmed Front of Skirt", "Stylish Sleeve-Finish",
  and "Arrangement of Lace and Plaiting for a Front-Gore"
  as well as the beginning of Styles for Gentlemen
  
• Styles for Gentlemen (cont.)
  plus pictures of "Trimmed Front of Skirt",
  "Garniture for Front of Skirt", "Sleeve Decoration",
  "Lace-and-Ribbon Garniture for a Sleeve", and
  "Arrangement of Gathered Ruffles"
  as well as the beginning of Artistic Needlework
  
• Artistic Needlework (cont.)
  and an article intitled The Work-Table
  as well as pictures of "Finish for Draperies or Overhanging
  Edges of Skirts", "Stylish Sleeve-Garniture",
  "Fancy Cuff-Facing", "Lace-Trimmed Cuff-Facing", and
  "Puffed Flounce"
  
• Crochet Work for Lambrequin
  as well as pictures of "Pompadour Finish for a Basque",
  "Fan Garniture for a Skirt", "Stylish Skirt-Trimming",
  and "Fancy Vest for a Basque or Polonaise"
  
• Dress Materials
  as well as pictures of "Fashionable Trimming of Lace and
  Ribbon", "Skirt Trimming", Side and Box Plaited Flounce",
  and "Lace-Trimmed Front of Skirt"
  
• Dress Materials (cont.)
  and pictures of four gentlemen's handkerchiefs
  as well as "Gentlemen's 1/2 Hose"
  
• Dress Materials (cont.)
  and pictures of "Gentlemen's Handkerchiefs",
  "Initial in Satin Stitch", and "Table-Scarf"
  
• Stylish Trimmings
  and pictures of "Butterfly and Wasp in South-
  Kensington Stitch", "Sumach design for Scrim Tidy", and "Autumn Leaves for Scrim Tidy"
  
• Stylish Trimmings (cont)
  and pictures of "Scrim Tidy" and "Fan Needle Book"
  
• The end of Stylish Trimmings and
  the beginning of Summer Millinery
  with pictures of "Court-Plaster Case"
  and "Pansy Pin-Cushion, with Diagrams for Shaping It"
  
• Summer Millinery (cont.)
  with pictures of "Crochetted Lambrequin"
  and "Details of Crochetted Lambrequin"
  
• Summer Millinery (cont.)
  with pictures of "Details of Crochetted Lambrequin"
  
• Summer Millinery (cont.)
  with pictures of "Details of Crochetted Lambrequin"
  
• Paris Letter
  with pictures of "Details of Crochetted Lambrequin"
  
• Paris Letter (cont.)
  with picture of "Effect of Several Rows of Stitches"
  
• The end of Paris Letter and
  the beginning of Cotton Gowns
  
• The end of Cotton Gowns and
  the beginning of Midsummer Reading
  
• Midsummer Reading (cont.)
  
• The end of Midsummer Reading and
  the beginning of Truth, Candor, and Forbearance for Summer Uses
  
• The end of Truth, Candor, and Forbearance for Summer Uses and
  the beginning of Some Women Authors
  
• The end of Some Women Authors and
  the beginning of Reception Days
  
• The end of Reception Days and
  the beginning of Summer Amusements
  
• The end of Summer Amusements and
  the beginning of The Flowers of Paradise
  
• The end of The Flowers of Paradise and
  the beginning of Girls, and Girls
  
• The end of Girls, and Girls and
  the beginning of At the Sea-Side
  
• The end of At the Sea-Side and
  the beginning of Items of Fashionable Interest
  
• The end of Items of Fashionable Interest
  (including sections "For The Jaunt" and "Mittens") and
  the beginning of Bric-A-Brac (including sections
  "What Not to Say" and "A Proof of Love")
  
• The end of Bric-A-Brac (including sections
  "The Luck of Figaro" and "The Oriental Way") and
  the beginning of Answers to Correspondents
  
• Answers to Correspondents (cont.)
  plus some nice ads.
  
• Answers to Correspondents (cont.)
  plus some nice ads.
  
• Some lovely ads.
  
• Inside of back cover
  
• Back cover