1811 Evening Dress, French. Red cashmere dress over white under shirt with short puffed sleeves, carrying a white shawl, long white gloves, earrings and white evening shoes. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien. Though this is a French fashion plate, the outfit is typical of the dresses worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries. An Empire style, or high-waisted, dress with a white underdress and for warmth there is an extra layer with the shawl.
Definition Cashmere: Soft, fine wool, historically used for costly dress fabric, usually in twill weave. Originally made of yarn handspun from the wool of Cashmere goats but later from other soft wools. Used for dresses, infants’ coats.
1816 January Blue Carriage Dress, English. High neck but no collar, front is fitted but back has slight fullness and very short bodice. Puffed roll to decorate the hem, trimmed in bias cut blue satin, long sleeves finished at wrists with satin, gloves of white kid and ‘sandals’ or shoes of blue kid leather. Head-dress à la mode de Paris is an unusual cap of white lace and decorated with two rolls of ribbon. “We are indebted to the tasteful fancy of Mrs. Bean, of Albemarle Street, for both our dresses this month.” Fashion Plate via Rudolph Ackermann’s ‘The Repository of Arts’.
Jane Austen and her contemporaries would have worn this style of outdoor, or carriage ensemble with a coat over a dress. These outdoor dresses were labelled a variety of names. In England, this might also have been called a Walking Or Promenade dress, or Pelisse. In Europe, it would be called a Redingote.
Definition: Pelisse, Walking Dress, Carriage dress, Promenade Dress, Redingote. Long, fitted coat sometimes cut away in front to show off the dress underneath. Originally made for men with several capes and trimmed with large buttons, they were adapted to add an additional, and warmer, layer to the typical white muslin dresses worn in the early 1800s. Those light weight dresses were good in summer but not suited to harsh winters. Over the carriage dress, a shawl could be added as well as a muff to give a warm and comfortable outfit for traveling by carriage.
Busks shaped and reinforced the centre front of stays, or corsets. They were made from whalebone, wood, and bone, and were often inscribed with names, dates, and symbols of love because they were positioned close to the heart. The corsets worn in Jane Austen’s later years and by women in Bridgerton times often had busks to stiffen the corset and support the breasts.
1755 Wooden Busk For Stays, English. Flat piece of wood with design scratched or picked out, and accented with red stain. Design comprises of circles, stylized geometric stars, heart motifs, and the initials and date ‘EB 1755’. Indistinct inscription on the back, scratched into the surface of the wood with three lines of script.1800-1840 ca. Scrimshaw Corset Busk, American. Designs are of a ship and the places the sailor visited. Sailors made these as gifts to be worn close to the heart by their loved ones. Dimensions (inches) 12.5 (L) , 1.3 (W). Dimensions (centimeters). 31.7 (L) , 3.3 (W) via Winterthur Museum Collection.19th Century. Scrimshaw Baleen Corset Busks, American. The first with figure inscribed Annabelle, ship, whale, and verse On the off shore grounds I think of thee, so I’ll catch my whales and leave the sea; the second inscribed Mary and 1836 12 3/8in. high the longest. via Christie’s Auction Rooms. 1833 August. Corset Busk of carved whalebone. Face carvings, house, geometric circle, potted plant, sailing ship, American flag. Joseph Bradford. Carvings, plant, house, anchor, sea birds over ship, tree. Whale skeletal bone, inscribed with knife and using black pigment. Length: 13 1/8″ 33.4 cm; Width: 1 9/16″ 3.9 cm; Thickness: 1/8″ 3 mm.Busks shaped and reinforced front of corsets. Made from whalebone, wood and bone. Often inscribed with names, dates and symbols of love because they were positioned close to the heart. Via Hereford Museum. 1771 Wooden Corset Busk, American. Carved Maple wood. Via Winterthur Museum. 19th Century Early. Corset Busk of Double-Sided Carved Wood. Honey colored wood, probably maple, carved on both sides. Two trees of life, hex symbol design, two entwined hearts, pinwheels, and growing plant. Back has delicate scrimshaw-look design of seashore town, chapel, homes, lighthouse and ships, horizontal rather than front vertical. Measures: 13.75″ x 1.5″. via Antique Dress.18th Century Wooden Busk for Stays, European. Via metmuseum.org18th Century Late – 19th Early Carved Maple Wood Busk, American. Spirals top & bottom, two hearts meet at center, “PC” carved on reverse. Worn by member of Robbins family, inherited by Ellen A. Stone. Via Fine Arts Museum Of Boston, USA.
1818 August English dinner Dress. White high-waisted, loose and flowing dress, multiple layers of frill and blue hem decoration, shawl collar, blue and white scarf and high flowered bonnet. Fashion Plate John Belle’s La Belle Assemblée or, Bell’s Court and Fashionable Magazine, London.
1818 Gentleman’s Outfit, French. Cutaway coat with a fur collar and extra long tails, blue trousers finishing at his ankles, blue vest, high white cravat, black shoes, black top hat, walking stick and cured hairstyle with small sideburns. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
Want a glimpse into the life of a young lady in Jane Austen and the Bridgerton years? #bridgerton #RegencyEra #JaneAusten
Young Lady’s Day is Book 4 in the Regency Life Series. This book depicts the often-frivolous life and fashions of a young lady in the early 1800’s, but also gives a glimpse into the more serious occupations a young lady may undertake. Through historic images, historical information, and funny anecdotes, it shows how a young lady fills her day, where she is permitted to go, and who she is allowed spend time with. These light-hearted looks at the longer Regency years are an easy to read overview of what people did and wore, and where they worked and played. There is plenty of information to interest history buffs, and lots of pictures to help readers and writers of historical fiction visualize the people and places from the last years of the 18th Century until Queen Victoria took the throne. https://books2read.com/suziloveYLD
1818 Visiting Ensemble Of Patterned Gold Silk Dress And Bonnet, American. High-waisted, or Empire style, dress with a softly flowing skirt trimmed with three scalloped rows of gold ribbon and two narrow straight rows just above the hem. The sleeves are long and straight and have gold ribbon trim on the top to give the effect of a short puffed sleeve over the long one. The neckline is wide cut in the front and the back fastens with a row of self covered buttons. The bonnet is made of the same patterned gold silk and has a ruched band across the forehead. The hat is gathered at the back and is trimmed with gold ribbon and has gold ribbon ties under the chin. The side has faux flowers made of the same gold fabric and ribbon. via Metropolitan Museum NYC, U.S.A. metmuseum.org
1816-1817 ca. Man’s Linen Shirt, American. High collar, ruffles down front opening, fullness from gathered shoulders and sleeves for unrestricted movement. Beautifully created and monogrammed by Elizabeth Wild Hitchings for her husband, Benjamin Hitchings, a sea captain. Wives or servants regularly hand stitched shirts from 1800s-1840s, before sewing machines, but handiwork rarely recorded.
From The Creator: This shirt was created, from the linen fiber to the finished garment, by the donor’s great-grandmother, Elizabeth Wild Hitchings, for her husband Benjamin Hitchings, a sea captain, in 1816. It was common practice for a wife or servant to hand stitch family members’ shirts prior to the mid-19th century, but rarely was such handiwork recorded, making this case rare and intriguing. In addition, its elegant stitching makes it a perfect example of the familial care taken in sewing prior to the common possession and use of the sewing machine. via Metropolitan Museum, N.Y.C., U.S.A. metmuseum.org
Fascinated with historical fashion? Treat yourself to a nonfiction Box Set on corsets, including Bridgerton and Jane Austen years. Corsets Box Set History Notes Book 22. This Box Set combines corset books 14-21 to give a complete picture of the progression of corset styles from 1700 through to the 1900s, including Jane Austen’s lifetime. These books show how body wraps, stays, and corsets were worn through the centuries to create a variety of fashionable silhouettes through various historical eras. Corsets flattened breasts and accentuated rounded hips or pushed up breasts and showed off the bust line depending on the fashions of the time and the desired silhouette. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook22
1815-1825 ca. Dark Green Leather Woman’s Slippers, French. The type of shoes worn by Jane Austen and her female friends and family. Made in France and worn in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Worn by Mehetable Stoddard Sumner (Welles), American, 1784-1826. Green silk bows, lapped side seams, green silk bindings, black silk ribbon ties, plain linen drawstring at fronts, white leather insoles, white linen vamp linings; leather soles. Written in ink on insole was ‘Droit’, meaning right side, although both shoes may have been the same. via Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. mfa.org.
Shoes in the early 1800s were flat or low heeled and occasionally decorated with a bow or floral embellishments and it wasn’t until the 1820s that square, rather than rounded, toes became fashionable. Typical Regency Era women’s footwear were shoes that had low heels, slightly rounded toes, embellished with a bow and with ribbon ties for the ankles. Made of soft kid or cloth, these delicate shoes were flimsy and wore out quickly. Slippers were often bought in multiples at a time and with no difference between left or right foot so when one slipper had a hole it was easily replaced.
