Printed illustrations of women wearing the latest styles date at far back as the 16th century. These were illustrations, which, in the 1850s, were tinted to represent the popular colors. These prints would depict a group of women in a natural setting, for example, taking a walk in a group or sitting in a parlor, and were bought for home use and by tailors and seamstresses. Milliners and dress makers would also commission dolls, which would be shown to potential customers to demonstrate their options. At this time, it would be likely that the plates and dolls would be imported from Europe.
During the 1850s, the majority of print advertising depended on the use of fonts and phrasing to get attention. Illustrations were much more expensive, and color illustrations even more so, seldom depicted with shading but in flat colors that could be easily printed in layers. Photography was seldom used, due to the expense and the complicated nature of making copies, and the comparative lack of detail in the grainy black and white photographs. As in the fiction and non-fiction of the time period, advertising copy made heavy use of the passive voice.
In this time period, catalogs featured only one type of good. It wouldn't be until 1871 that general catalogs, offering a variety of options, would begin circulation. In the previous decades, women living in rural areas without access to the full range of dress makers, milliners and other makers of fashionable accessories would have to write to receive a printed book of available products. Much like a fashion plate collection, customers would make a decision based on the skill of the illustrator.
The modern concept of shopping was just beginning in this time period, which affected the approach merchants used to advertise their wares. Depending on the size of the community, a shopper might be limited to a general store, with bolts of fabric crammed in among barrels of crackers and farm implements, or have access to specialized shops with ready-made clothing and tailors and seamstresses of all levels of quality. As in modern day, merchants enhanced the desirability of their products with attractive displays. Extras, like home delivery, were offered as a matter of course. Merchants in the 1850s would use signage to direct customers, and the advent of industrial production made large, glass windows, similar to those used in modern stores, to advertise their contents.