1798 Gentleman’s Outfit, French. Long green overcoat with yellow buttons, tan gloves, black boots topped with yellow band, gloves with three seams across the back of the hand, high white cravat, black hat, fob at his waist and holding a cane. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
19th Century Early Women’s Cotton Caps. Worn as morning caps, night caps, or under other hats. With lappets, hanging ties, or tails, which were also called ‘follow me lads’, or ‘flirtation ribbons’. via Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A. mfa.org. via Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A. mfa.org
Definition Caps: Worn as morning caps, night caps, or under other hats. Jane Austen and her family and female friends would have worn caps like these, sometimes during the morning at home, to bed to keep their long hair from becoming knotted, or under a bonnet to hold a hairstyle in place.
Caps sometimes had hanging ties, or tails, were also called ‘follow me lads’, or ‘flirtation ribbons’.
Definition Lappets: Two long strips of material, often lace, hanging from top of head down back or over shoulders. Sometimes extensions of a headdress and a requirement for court dress.
19th Century First Half Woman’s Embroidered Cap, French. In the 19th Century, women wore some sort of headwear during the day and the evening. Finely decorated cotton caps were worn during the morning with informal or At-Home, dress and at night with nightwear. These caps had fine embroidery, ruffles, lace edgings on the streamers, embroidered, pointed edges of the ruffles, ties, and streamers, known as ‘follow me lads’ or ‘flirtation ribbons’.
19th Century First Half Woman’s Embroidered Cap, French. Cotton mull with cotton embroidery, linen bobbin lace insertion, silk ribbon, round gathered crown with spoked wheel design in center surrounded by long leafed wreath, outside this a wreath of carnations, same carnations around forehead band and neck band, design embroidered with white linen thread, white taffeta ribbon run through the embroidered net casing and tied in center back. via Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A. mfa.org
1815 Blue Striped Dress, Norway. Empire style, or high-waisted, dress with short puffed sleeves over long straight sleeves and gold trim. I can picture Jane Austen and her female friends and family wearing this sort of dress to an evening event. via Nordiska Museet, Nordic Museum, Stockholm, Sweden. digitaltmuseum.se
1810–1850 ca. Corset, American or European. Front lacing, extra wide straps for under a
square neckline dress. via Metropolitan Museum, N.Y.C., U.S.A. metmuseum.org
Surviving stays, or corsets as they became to be called in the nineteenth century, show that both longline and shorter corsets were worn and that they were made of cotton, silk and sateen. A lot of these corsets were front fastening, plus many were laced at both the front and the back so our aristocratic fictional heroines could indeed dress and undress themselves without the assistance of a maid.
Corsets 1810-1830 History Notes Book 17 This book shows how corsets changed to fit well under clothing, give maximum support and comfort. Corsets pushed up breasts and showed off the bust line beneath a square-cut and low-cut neckline as in the early 1800s, or Regency years. Jane Austen and her female and friends wore these corsets. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook17
1810-1850 ca. Bridgerton or Jane Austen Style Front Lacing Corset With Extra Wide Straps, American Or European. #Bridgertons #JaneAusten #RegencyFashion #Corset #RomanticEra https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook17 Share on X
1800 ca. Fawn Cotton Bodiced Petticoat With Front Lacing, English. via National Trust Collections, UK. nationaltrustcollections.org.uk
Because dresses were so light and airy as to be almost see-through, petticoats were needed to protect a woman’s modesty. If a glimpse of an ankle was supposed to turn a man’s head, imagine what would happen if he saw an entire lady’s exposed leg.
Did Jane Austen wear this type of petticoat under her dress? Probably. This wide necked, small shoulder straps and Empire, or high-waisted, undergarment would have provided some warmth plus protect the modesty of Regency Era women. This would be worn under the high-waisted, wide necked, small bodiced type of thin, or even almost transparent, dresses of the early 1800s.
1817 March. Opera Dress, English. The sort of outfit Jane Austen and her contemporaries or the Bridgerton women would wear for an evening at the opera or theatre. Fashion Plate via Rudolph Ackermann’s ‘The Repository of Arts’.
A blue crape dress over a white satin slip; the dress trimmed round the skirt with a deep blond lace, which is headed with a light and novel trimming, composed of white floss silk and small pearl beads: this trimming is surmounted with a beautiful deep embroidery of lilies, surrounded by leaves. The body and sleeves of this dress, as our readers will perceive by our print, are extremely novel. Head-dress, toque à la Berri; it is a crown of a novel form, tastefully ornamented round the top with lilies to correspond with the trimming of the skirt, and a plume of white feathers, which droop over the face. Ear-rings, necklace, and bracelets, sapphire mixed with pearl. The hair dressed in loose light ringlets on the forehead, and disposed in full curls in the back of the neck. White kid gloves, and white satin slippers.
1813 Yellow Redingote Or Coat, French. Hooded coat with gorgeous white trim, yellow boots, yellow velvet bonnet with a white plume. Jane Austen and her female family and friends wore fashions like these. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
Redingote, or Pelisse, or Walking Dress, or Promenade Dress: Going by many names, this is a coat copied from men’s overcoats but worn by both men and women. Generally, opens down the front, worn for warmth over a dress or coat and breeches, and has a military look with front vertical buttoning or decoration. Called a Redingote in French periodicals but English magazines called them by many other names: pelisse, carriage dress, walking dress, promenade costume.
1780 Watch on a Chatelaine, Germany. Silver Repousse Verge With four chain chatelaine. via Heritage Auction H.A.com.
Definition Chatelaine: The word Chatelaine is French and means the keeper of the keys. Chatelaine” derives from the Latin word for castle. In Medieval times, the chatelaine was in charge of the day-to-day running of the castle. What did a chatelaine do? Most important task was keeper of the keys. Also ordered supplies, did bookkeeping, supervised servants, taught castle children, and organized guests. books2read.com/SuziLoveChatelaines
What were chatelaines used for?
1798 Woman’s Light Blue Douillette, Or Housecoat, French. Trimmed with pink velvet, pink fan, black slave sandals, apricot hat with black trim. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
Description Douillette: A coat or housecoat, sometimes quilted, worn in France.
