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.
1810-1825 ca. Bridgerton and Jane Austen Times Red Twisted Reticule, Or Bag, European. Silk and metal with cord drawstring. via Metropolitan Museum, N.Y.C., U.S.A. metmuseum.org
Definition Reticule Or Bag or Purse: Often with a drawstring to pull closed and usually made of cloth or covered cardboard and often decorated with beading or embroidery. A reticule, or purse, or handbag, was usually carried by a woman during the Regency period to carry all their daily necessities. Earlier, women used pockets that tied at the waistline and were hidden in the folds of their skirts. Empire style, or early 1800s, high-waisted dresses made it impossible to either sewn in a pocket or to tie on a pocket. So women began carrying small, decorated bags called Reticules, or ridicules, which generally pulled close at the top with a drawstring. http://books2read.com/suziloveReticules
In the early nineteenth century, reticules started to look like future handbags as they were often made from rigid card or molded mâché or card into a variety of shapes. Early bags were circular and with a drawstring but as women wanted their reticules to look individual they could be made with two halves and a hinged metal closure or with concertina sides. Materials varied from silk, cotton and string and shapes were round, hexagonal or lozenge shapes with shell shaped bags becoming very popular during the Regency and Romantic Eras.
1800s magazines were written for well bred women who could read, so they gave plenty of ideas for how ladies could make and embellish reticules for their own use and as pretty gifts. Needlework was highly encouraged as a pastime for a lady so bags were frequently embroidered or decorated with beading. By the 1820s, reticules became more like our modern handbags using soft leather gathered at the top or hard leather with a rigid fastener and metal chain for carrying.
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)
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
1800 – 1820 ca. Bag, Or Reticule, Dutch. Cotton, glass and with drawstring. via Metropolitan Museum New York City, U.S.A. metmuseum.org http://books2read.com/suziloveReticules Because reticules were so popular, Jane Austen and her family and friends and the Bridgerton family would have made reticules for each other for gifts and carried these small purses with them whenever they went out.
From Historic Dress In America: ‘Reticules were so universally carried during the first part of the nineteenth century that they were called Indispensables, and a few years later ridicules. Miss Southgate describes one in a letter in 1802, ‘Martha sent me a most elegant Indispensable, white lute-string spangled with silver…’
Definition Reticule Or Bag or Purse: Often with a drawstring to pull closed and usually made of cloth or covered cardboard and often decorated with beading or embroidery. A reticule, or purse, or handbag, was usually carried by a woman during the Regency period to carry all their daily necessities. Earlier, women used pockets that tied at the waistline and were hidden in the folds of their skirts. Empire style, or early 1800s, high-waisted dresses made it impossible to either sewn in a pocket or to tie on a pocket. So women began carrying small, decorated bags called Reticules, or ridicules, which generally pulled close at the top with a drawstring.
• Beadwork: Attaching beads to one another by stringing with a needle and thread or thin wire, or sewing them to cloth. Includes loom weaving, stringing, bead embroidery, bead crochet, and bead knitting.
• Embroidery: Decorating fabrics with a needle and thread, or cloth, such as a needlepoint picture of a house or hand sewn initials.
1807 Fashionable French Couple. Man: Blue cutaway coat and yellow breeches. Lady: Lemon and blue dress and bonnet. Typical of the ensembles worn by Jane Austen and her family and friends. 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. The proper 19th century woman wore various forms of headwear throughout the day and evening. Unstructured, finely decorated cotton caps were worn in the morning hours with the informal attire appropriate for the early part of the day. Jane Austen and her family and female friends, and the Bridgerton family, 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. via Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A. mfa.org
Definition Boudoir Or Morning Cap: worn by women in the privacy of their ‘boudoir’ and was not a simple night-cap but a lightweight, decorated cap which covered the hair before it was dressed for daytime activities or for at-home pursuits.
Definition Cornette or Morning Cap: Muslin or other lightweight material, worn to cover hair during at-home pursuits such as reading or sketching, tied under chin and sometimes worn under bonnet.
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.
