1802 Lavender Gown With Long Train and Decorative Trim, French. Short sleeved Empire style, or high-waisted, dress, long pale gloves, black straw hat with ribbon trim, necklace and fan. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1801-1804
Definition Empire Style Dress: High-waisted white gown defined women’s fashion during the Regency Era. ‘Empire’ is the name given to the period when Napoleon Bonaparte built his French Empire. High-waisted, loose gowns were adopted by the aristocracy as a symbol of turning away from the fussy, elaborate and expensive clothing worn in the 1700s.
The type of dress worn across Europe in the early 1800s. This sort of high-waisted dress would have been worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries in England. The Empire waist gown defined women’s fashion during the Regency Era. ‘Empire’ is the name given in France to the period when Napoleon built his French Empire. High-waisted, loose gowns were adopted by the aristocracy as a symbol of turning away from the fussy, elaborate and expensive clothing worn in the 1700s.
1810-1813 ca. Blue and Silver Shot Silk, Empire style dress, with long sleeves, British. One-piece dress in silver and blue shot silk with a pattern of dark blue flowers. High waist, square back neckline and dropdown bib-front. Bodice interior lined with cream cotton panels. Full-length sleeves have gathered sleeve head and extended cuffs over hands, with silk floss-corded trim at band. Five paneled skirt gathered at centre back and designed to be worn over a small back bustlepad. Cotton tape drawstring attached to interior of bodice and with blue silk ribbon ties at back. The high waist, bib-front and columnar skirt made this Empire dress less restrictive than many other 19th-century styles. Beneath this light, free flowing garment lay several layers of underwear. A shift and petticoat were worn, as well as a soft corset with a busk. Via australiandressregister.org
Probably belonged to Devonshire woman, Ann Deane (mother of Mary Deane, who married pastoralist and founder of Springfield sheep station, William Pitt Faithfull). Ann married Thomas Deane at Upton Pyne in Devon in 1807, and by 1813 had given birth to four of her six children. The dress travelled to Australia with Ann Deane when she and her son Robert, daughters Ann and Mary, and grandson Edgar migrated to New South Wales in early 1838. Ann Deane’s husband Thomas had died over a decade earlier, and her children had been receiving an annuity of 1000 pounds a year from their Uncle Robert Deane, a captain in the West India Company marines, who died in 1827.
When the Deane family embarked upon the three-month sea voyage to Australia they brought a range of objects and material from England, including sketches and paintings of English landscapes and seascapes (by daughters Ann and Mary), scrapbooks filled with newspaper clippings, recipes and poetry, books many of which were inscribed with affectionate messages from friends left behind and a number of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century dresses. After arriving in Sydney Ann’s daughters, Ann and Mary, established a private school for young ladies in Macquarie Place. The school operated until 1844, when Mary married Faithfull, and it was through this union that the dress found its way to Springfield sheep station in Goulburn. Mary and Faithfull had nine children between 1845 and 1859, and their eldest daughter Florence became the caretaker of the dress once her mother and aunt had passed away. Florence Faithfull became an avid collector, keeping hundreds of items left by family members when they moved away or died.
In the early 1950s Florence’s niece and namesake, Florence ‘Bobbie’ Maple-Brown, was faced with the momentous task of sorting through the remarkable collection of material that had accumulated for over 100 years at Springfield. During renovations of the main homestead Bobbie converted two rooms of the nine-bedroom mansion into what was to become known as the Faithfull Family Museum. The blue silk dress and many others collected during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were hung in a wardrobe in the family museum, springing to life now and again when younger generations of the Maple-Brown family used them for dress-ups.
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.
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. Young Lady’s Day Regency Life Series Book 4 by Suzi Love. https://books2read.com/suziloveYLD
1808 Two Jane Austen style dress bodices, French. Green and white striped dress has short puffed sleeves and matching green turban. White dress with pink overdress has short sleeves and a pink headdress to match. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
French fashions like this were copied by English magazines so these styles of hats would have been worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries.
An early 1800’s glimpse into both the frivolous and more serious occupations filling a young lady’s day in the lifetime of Jane Austen, or the Regency Era. Historic images and historical information show her fashions and frolics. Shows the often-frivolous life and fashions of a young lady in the early 1800’s, plus 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. Young Lady’s Day Regency Life Series Book 4 by Suzi Love. https://books2read.com/suziloveYLD
1805 Pink Redingote With Train, French. White dress with high neck frill, green shawl, velvet hat with leaf shapes to decorate the front, necklace, silk scarf as a belt and white gloves.Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
Jane Austen and her contemporaries would have wore long coats like this one to keep warm when out and about, visiting, shopping etc. The thin muslin dresses worn in the early 1800s were little protection against European winters so coats of some sort were added, plus colorful accessories like this shawl and the hat to add color and another layer of warmth.
Definition Redingote Or Coat Or Pelisse: Long fitted outdoor coat worn over other garments for warmth. French word developed from English words, riding coat. French fashion plates call these coats Redingotes and they are designed for women, men and children. English fashion plates call them a Pelisse, a walking dress, Promenade dress, or Carriage dress.
1807 Lady In A Trained White At-Home Dress With Blue Trim Taking Tea, French. Very low cut bodice and white lace cap. Fashion Plate via suzilove.com and Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
The Journal des dames et des modes was a French fashion magazine published between 1797 and 1839 and was the second oldest fashion magazine published in France, replacing the Cabinetdes Modes (1785-1793). The magazine was the main source for French fashions, both in France and internationally. Pierre de la Mesangere was editor and main journalist for most of the time the magazine was in existence and he published a magazine every five days, which is why there is an abundance of French fashion plates from these years. The magazine had eight pages of text, one or two colored fashionplates, plus poetry, theatre reviews, current social news and fiction. During the Napoleonic wars, everything to do with France was unpopular, especially in Britain, yet French fashions thrived and so did the Journal des Dames et des Modes, despite the numerous other fashion magazines that copied the magazine.
1790-1805 ca. Women’s pink patterned kid leather shoes as worn by Jane Austen and other ladies in her times. Made by Hoppe, London, of stencilled kid leather.
In Jane Austen’s years, fragile slippers were worn for balls and evening events but for walking sturdier shoes were needed, In the early 1800s, slippers were made of fabric such as satin or from leather, were flat or had a very small heel, slightly rounded toes and were laced up on the top. They were usually not made in right or left, but instead one shoe shape and in multiples so that when one slipper wore out, another was on hand to replace it.
1811 January Evening Dresses, English. Standing Figure: French frock with half train of black imperial gauze worn over a slip of white sarsnet or satin, ornamented with a Vandyke border of white velvet or thread lace. White velvet hat ornamented with two curled ostrich feathers, with a silver or beaded band. White kid gloves and shoes. Sitting Figure: Grecian robe of silver grey crape worn over a white satin under-dress, ornamented at the hem and each side with a light and tasteful border of black bugles. Stomacher edged with black beads, corresponding with those which finish the bosom and sleeves. Earrings, necklace, and bracelets of jet. Hair in waved curls on each side of the face, divided in front of the forehead with a full plait and barrel comb of jet. White satin slippers with black jet clasps or bugle rosettes. White kid gloves and a fan of silver-frosted crape. Back-ground figure: Dress of black Venetian velvet with short Circassian sleeve, gathered in a knot of white beads or pearl, bosom and stomacher to correspond, pearl necklace, ear-rings, and bracelets. Belt of white velvet with mother-of-pearl clasps. Convent veil of white cobweb net confined with a pearl crescent, à la Diana. Sandal slippers and gloves of white kid and fan of carved ivory. Fashion Plate via Rudolph Ackermann’s ‘The Repository’ of Arts.
Definition Evening Dress: Minute distinctions between ball, dinner, evening and opera gowns meant different quality of fabrics and designs. A Ball Gown differed from an evening dress as expensive silk fabrics were usually worn, light or heavy, decorated with lace, embroidery or beading, with low-cut bodice, short or no sleeves, and full skirts. In the early 1800s, white cotton dresses were considered suitable for many evening events, but not for balls. And definitely not for an evening event in a palace. White dresses with white embroidery for evening were considered fashionable and exclusive as only the wealthy could afford them.
