1810-1829 ca. Green Silk Street Shoes, Probably British. As Worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries and the Bridgerton family. Heavier sole than ordinary day shoes, although the silk fabric meant they were only worn for easy promenades. Rounded toe means prior to 1830, when toes became square. Strong colors in shoes complimented fashionable colorful garments of the time. via Metropolitan Museum, NYC, U.S.A. metmuseum.org
1817 November Morning Dress and Evening Dress, English. Morning Dress is a round dress of Jaconot muslin with back buttons, small collar open in front to display the throat, lower part of front with bias tucks, moderately full skirt finished around bottom with small tucks and deep flounce with bright rose ribbon. Rose velvet Spenser trimmed with white satin and rose silk, finished at throat with white satin puffings. Plain long sleeves, French style Leghorn bonnet trimmed with large rows of ribbon to match Spenser and tied under the chin, stand-up lace frill around throat, swansdown muff, straw kid sandals and gloves.
Evening dress of fawn crepe over a white satin slip, cut low around the bust, confined to waist by a narrow cestus of white satin, fastened in front by a brilliant clasp. Single fall of Mecklin lace on dress, very short full sleeve finished at bottom by a rouleau of white satin and narrow lace plait. Skirt trimmed with double row of white satin Spanish puffs, very full and in bias. Hair high, parted and curled on the forehead with garland of Provence roses. Pearl earrings and necklace, spangled crape fan, white kid gloves and white satin slippers. Fashion Plate via The Mirror of Fashion in The Ladies’ Monthly Museum, England.
1817 November Muslin Morning Dress and Crepe Evening Dress, English. #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #FashionPlate https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1815-1819 Share on X
1810 Les Invisibles. By James Gillray. Two men walk towards each other, each with a lady hanging to each arm, all have their faces concealed by some part of their dress, hat, or collar, or both. One man has a round hat, with a fantastically curved brim projecting downwards. The other has a huge crescent-shaped cocked hat with the peaks dipping over face and back. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
1810 “A Bonnet Shop” By Thomas Rowlandson.A shopkeeper with a hat in each hand converses with an elderly woman wearing a similar hat. A child holding a rattle looks up at them at left, a plump woman wearing a bonnet sits at center, and a group of young women make bonnets in the background. Many groups of hats hang overhead in the shop. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
1811 Green Dress French. High waist with bow under the bust, Mamaluke sleeves as “a long full sleeve partitioned into five sections, each section being drawn and seamed to fit around the arm up sleeves, white collar lining, fashionable blue bonnet tied under the chin and wearing yellow shoes. The sort of fashionable outfit worn by women in Jane Austen’s times, or 1800s, or Regency Era. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
Mamaluke Sleeves: Long full sleeves partitioned into five sections, each section being drawn and seamed to fit around the arm up.
19th Century Mahogany Domestic Medicine Chest as would have been used in Regency England in the lifetime of Jane Austen and the Bridgerton family. via Christie’s Auction Rooms. christies.com
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
19th Century Late. Quill Box and Writing Slope, India. Scalloped base and drawer. Desk opens up to a writing slope and opens again to hidden drawers. Complete with candle holders and ink pots. The type of inkstand that households woulds have in Jane Austen’s times for writing letters and keeping track of estate matters. Many of these exotic and decorative items were brought to England by gentlemen doing their Grand Tour through Europe and Asia. via 1st Dibs Auctions ~ 1stdibs.com
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.
