1813 October White Empire style, or high-waisted, Carriage Dress, English. Brown shawl, brown boots, and a lace cap tied under the chin. Typical of the carriage fashions that would have been worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries. Fashion Plate via The Lady’s Magazine Or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex.
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. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashion1810-1814
1826 The Cyprian’s Ball At the Argyll Rooms. A Regency Gentleman’s Life. From The English Spy By Robert Cruikshank.
1826 The Cyprian’s Ball At the Argyll Rooms. A Regency Gentleman’s Life. From The English Spy By Robert Cruikshank. RL_2_D2D_RetailerBuyLink_RL_2
https://books2read.com/suziloveYGD
19th Century Early Chemise or Shift, American. White linen and embroidery. via Metropolitan Museum New York City, U.S.A. metmuseum.org
Chemise Or Shift: Sleeveless, mid-calf length garment of white cotton or muslin was worn next to the skin under stays or corset. Called ‘Shift’ from early Georgian (1700-1750) until Late Georgian (1750-1790) to replace ‘Smock’. By 1800, name replaced by ‘Chemise’. The sort of undergarment that Jane Austen would have worn next to her skin and under her stays, or corset.
1810-1815 ca. Salmon Pink Empire Style Dress, Norway. Typical Regency high-waisted dress. Long sleeves with puckered sleeve cap. Deep neckline with short shirred bodice. Long full skirt. via Digital Museum, Norway. digitalmuseum.no Regency fashion at its prettiest. The style of Empire style, or high-waisted, dress worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries and the ladies in the Bridgerton family.
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. Jean-Jaques Rousseau advocated copying peasants and returning to a simpler life and more natural fashions. Unrestricting clothing was part of the new Democracy in France and these simpler and flowing fashions were adopted all over Europe, including Britain and despite the continual wars being fought against France during the early 1800s. Not even war stopped fashions from being copied everywhere.
This book looks at what was fashionable for women in Jane Austen’s or the Bridgerton family’s times, or the early 1800s, or the Regency Era in Britain. Wars were being fought around the globe so women’s fashion adopted a military look in support of soldiers. Fashions, like the lifestyle, became progressively more extravagant and accessories went from colorful to over-the-top.
1803 Jane Austen Style Dress Bodice and Five Trimmed Hats. Low cut bodice, puffed sleeves, scarf, four variations of trimmed hats. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1801-1804
Hats: Early 1800s: Lightweight caps or muslin, linen, lace or net were 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. But for outdoor ventures, hats were more substantial and for the evening a lot more individual and elaborate. The ties of a bonnet that were secured under the chin vary from the very simple to the quite fanciful.
1804-1829 ca. Two Gentlemen and A Lady, Italian. Dressed as ladies and gentlemen would be in the times of the Bridgerton family and Jane Austen and friends. Gentleman in a caped overcoat with black top hat and red umbrella. Lady in walking costume of lavender cape over red dress, red shawl, white bonnet and black walking shoes. Gentleman in blue opera cloak with red lining, black top hat and black shoes. Men And Women In Costumes, 1804-1829 The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division, The New York Public Library. nypl.org The sort of fashionable outfit and items worn or carried by Jane Austen and her contemporaries when out walking. Outfits were always heavily accessorized with coats, shawls, hats and parasols.
1810 ca Spectacles Or Eye Glasses, British. Fashion accessories as worn by both men and women in the time of the Bridgertons and Jane Austen. via Museum Of London museumoflondon.org. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionMen1800-1819
1805-1820 ca. Combination Shoe and Patten, Or Overshoe. Raises foot off the ground but still elegant enough to be genteel. Very practical but not to everyone’s taste. When Jane Austen and her family and friends went walking in the country, the ground was often very wet due to England’s high rainfall and snowfall so pattens were used to keep shoes and the hems of clothing out of the mud.
Only one of this pair of shoes survives. It effectively combines shoe and patten (overshoe) in one, so raising the foot off the ground but remaining sufficiently elegant to be considered genteel. This type of shoe was very practical but not to everyone’s taste. In 1840 The Shoemaker described it as going out of fashion partly because it looked ‘masculine for the chaster taste of the wearer’. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk
1805-1820 ca. Combination Shoe and Patten, Or Overshoe. Suitable for both genders. Raises the foot off the ground but is still elegant enough to be genteel. Very practical but not to everyone’s taste. In 1840 The Shoemaker described it as going out of fashion partly because it looked ‘masculine for the chaster taste of the wearer’. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk.
