Fashion has always been important to the ladies, and if you were a lady in the 19th century, you were reading Godey's Ladies Book.  Published monthly, it was the last word in fashion and culture for the fairer sex.  To balance it out, there were a few men's fashions, with instructions on how to make them.  Complete with songs, fiction, and patterns, this book contained all that the lady needed to be domestic.

Rochester has a nice site covering some of the 1851 issues of the magazine.

The University of Vermont has also digitized many of the color plates from Godey's.  Here's another page from UV.

On the University of Virginia's excellent site about antebellum life in the South are several plates.