1817 February Pelisse, or Redingote, English. Carriage dress of white poplin with a deep blond flounce. Blue levantine pelisse or walking dress, or Redingote in France, shorter than the dress and edged with floss silk. Coburg cap of black velvet turns up on one side in front and is lined and edged with blue satin. The head-dress worn with it has a profusion of white ostrich feathers. Ruff is of plain blond, edged with narrow white satin ribbon, and a pink Indian scarf over the shoulders. An ermine muff, gloves and slippers of blue kid, complete the elegant dress. Fashion Plate via John Belle’s La Belle Assemblée or, Bell’s Court and Fashionable Magazine, London.
Definition Coat or Redingote Or Pelisse: Long fitted outdoor coat worn over other garments for warmth. French word developed from English words, riding coat.
1826 A Regency Gentleman’s Life In Jane Austen’s Times. #JaneAusten #RegencyEra #Cartoon #England. via 1826 The English Spy By Robert Cruikshank via Google Books (PD-150)
The young man’s friends may help him decide what activities they would engage in. Perhaps they would decide to watch a dogfight or a cockfight. Or perhaps go and see a mill, where two burly boxers would pummel each other’s faces until one was declared winner and bets could be settled. Later that night, the rowdy group would head to whatever gambling hell was in vogue where they would pass several hours drinking and playing cards. Dark and sordid rooms, smoky interiors, loud and drunken men, and losing your quarter’s allowance from your father were all willingly suffered if a young man had enticed a buxom wench to sit on his lap and make him forget his woes. And how angry his father would be when he learned his son had gambled away yet another three months of his allowance.
Having filled in their morning, the men wander into Town to meet their cronies for luncheon. Thank goodness it’s time for a few bottles of claret!! Just the thing for fixing a hang-over, plus, a great place to discuss how to eke out their never-enough allowances until the young men could beg their long-suffering fathers for a little more spending money.
Price Egan’s ‘Life In London in 1823 described a young man’s entertainment choices. ‘ …bit of a stroll,’ in order to get rid of an hour or two. A turn or two in Bond Street, a stroll through Piccadilly, a look in at Tattersall’s, a ramble through Pall Mall, and a strut on the Corinthian path, fully occupied the time until the hour for dinner arrived, when a few glasses of rich wine put them on the path for vice.’ A group of young men would then head to Vauxhall. ‘‘…if enjoyment is your motto, you may make the most of an evening at Vauxhall, more than at any other place in the metropolis. It is all free-and-easy. Stay as long as you like, and depart when you think proper.’
1807 Regency Couple, French.Dressed As In Jane Austen’s times.Back view of a lady’s white dress with a cute back bow, long draping scarf with knotted ends, and straw bonnet with a blue ribbon and bows. Gentleman in a long grey coat, orange vest, extremely high collar of a ruffled shirt, tight taupe pants tucked into topped boots, and with a fashionable short curly hairstyle. Fashion Plate via Costume Parisien.
1804 Dandies In Morning and Evening Dress. By Isaac Robert Cruikshank. ‘Dandies In A Morning Dress’. Man in morning suit with hat and umbrella, woman with large hat and shawl. ‘Dandies In A Evening Dress’. Man in short evening jacket with handkerchief, woman with large feather headpiece. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
1817 April Ladies’ Voucher for all the Wednesday balls at Almack’s Assembly Rooms, London, U.K. in April 1817. The voucher is for the Marchioness of Buckingham to attend the balls at Almack’s “on the Wednesdays in April 1817.” There are initials in the lower right hand corner marked, “MD”. These initials might be for Mary Marchioness of Downshire who may briefly have been a patroness ca. 1816-1817. The red wax seal is also intact on the front. “Pall Mall” is written on the back of the card.Via Huntington Museum, California, U.S.A. https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll7/id/10672/
Subscribers to Almack’s were allowed to bring a guest to a Ball, if they were approved first. They called at the Rooms in person and were either granted a Strangers Ticket of admission or were banned. Rooms were open for supper, gaming dancing lasting the night. At eleven o’clock, doors were closed and no one, not even celebrities were admitted. Once a young lady making her debut during the London Season had been granted a ticket to Almack’s, her social standing was assured. The Patronesses introduced the debutante to people of importance and selected her dance partners.
1808 Lady In A High-Waisted White Dress Reading A Book Outdoors, French. Dress has short puffed sleeves and is worn under a frilled Pelerine, or shoulder cape, long tan gloves, walking shoes and a white country style hat with a blue bow. The lady is leaning on a post and reading a book. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costume Parisien.
Empire Style Dress: Named after the First Empire in France. Empire dresses had a low neckline and skirts started directly under the bust and flowed into the classical relaxed wide styles of Greece and Rome. This style of dress is associated with Jane Austen and her contemporaries as a high-waisted dress was worn most days. Cotton, silk or taffeta were the popular fabrics.
Definition Pelerine: Tippet or shoulder cape, usually waist-length, with long, pointed ends in front. Popular in England and colonial America.
Writing Regency Era Fiction Or Nonfiction? Need more information on Older Gentleman’s Day in early 1800s, or the Bridgerton family or Jane Austen’s Regency Era. A lighthearted overview of an older gentleman’s clothing, social life, and responsibilities in the early 1800s. Take a look at where an older man went, what he wore, and how he managed the family’s finances and his estates. Older Gentleman’s Day Regency Life Series Book 3 books2read.com/suziloveOGD
Michael Brandon nodded. “Yes, I’m related to Lord Brandon, Frederick, who disappeared four years ago.” He faced the sick man. “We searched everywhere for you. Men scoured the streets of London for weeks after you disappeared, and then we widened our search. Ports, inns, the countryside, anywhere you might have gone. Or anywhere that you might have been taken if you’d been kidnapped and held for ransom.”
Michael groaned. “Three years of nothing. Not a sign. The police declared you a missing person, most likely deceased, and told us to wait out the seven years until we could officially declare you dead.” He swiped at his eyes, brushing aside the gathering tears. He took Frederick’s hand. “But we never gave up hope. None of us, and especially not mother.”
Tears trickled down Michael’s cheek and he brushed them aside impatiently. He didn’t care that everyone saw his raw grief. He only cared that his brother, if this shell of a man truly was his previously vibrant brother, heard his words and understood the truth in them. The heartache and sorrow that they’d all carried for years. The pain they’d suffered thinking they might never set eyes on Frederick again.
“Your mother …” His words caught as a sob escaped him, echoing the continuing sobbing from Melissa behind him. “Your mother died a year ago, but her last words were a desperate plea for me to keep looking for you. To find you, and to bring you home.”
Michael watched tears trickle and run over the creases on the aged face before him, and he knew. This was Frederick, his constant companion during hundreds of childish escapades.
https://books2read.com/suziloveDS December Scandal, Book 3 Scandalous Siblings.
