When looking for appropriate Civil War Era clothing, it always helps to know who you are in the 19th Century. Age, social standing and region in which you might have lived all play a part in how you would dress.
Ladies wear of the 1850's and 60's shared many similarities but also some subtle differences. Several dress bodice styles (fan front, gathered, darted; round (straight) or pointed) as well as skirt waist treatments (gauged, pleated) and sleeve styles (pagoda, bishop or coat sleeve) were popular and decade appropriate.
Accessories, too, changed with the decades and could be used to date a particular look of the period.
He Has Made Everything Beautiful In Its Time...Ecc.3:11
