Reticule Or Bag: Purse, often with a drawstring to pull closed and usually made of cloth or covered cardboard and often decorated with beading or embroidery. Carried by a woman during the Regency period to carry all their daily necessities. in the place of pockets.
Spencer: Short jacket, cropped at the waist, worn over a dress, or gown. Delicate and regency dresses provided so little protection from the cold, so over garments were essential for warmth, modesty and good health.
Pelisse Or redingote Or Walking Dress: Coat worn over clothing of both sexes for warmth and protection from the elements.
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1820 ca. Collection of Reticules, or Purses. Silk silver gauze, netting, fine crochet. Bags have drawstrings, chains and tassels. via Ruby Lane Auctions. #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #British
Definition Of A Reticule; 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. These Reticules, or bags, were the forerunners of our modern day purses.
19th Century Embroidered Silk Bag, Japan. Metal clasp and chain, embroidered with a beautiful bird and flowers. via Ruby Lane Antiques. rubylane.com
Definition Reticule: 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.
An overview of women’s fashions in the first twenty years of the 19th century. What was fashionable for women in Jane Austen’s times, or the early 1800s. Wars were being fought around the globe, so women’s fashion adopted a military look in support of soldiers. In Britain, the Prince Regent ruled instead of his father, King George III, so fashions, like the lifestyle, became more extravagant and accessories went from pretty to opulent. This set includes books 12, 25, 26, 27 and 28. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomenBoxSet
Ladies clothing in the early 1800’s featured a high waist line called an Empire Line, or Empire style dress, with a waist line just under the natural bust line and much higher than the natural waist. The high-waisted, or short-bodied, Regency styles shifted focus away from the natural waist and so left the natural waist unconstricted, in direct contrast to previous and future styles. Britain took these simple European styles and progressively made them more elaborate by adding more and more complicated embroidery onto white fabrics to create the white on white look popular for many years.
The empire look of fine muslin dresses left women more exposed than in the Georgian Era when fabrics had been thicker and styles bulkier. Women, especially in England, preserved their modesty by adding lace, frills, flounces, ruches, and fabric plaits to dresses to adequately cover any parts that might inadvertently be exposed. Outer layers, such as Spencers, Redingotes or Pelisses or coats, and shawls, were also added for warmth and to brighten outfits.
This Empire fashion was totally dependent on a supply of fine, translucent cotton muslin – at first imported from India, then later, less exclusive imitations often woven and printed or embroidered in Britain. Fabrics were soft and lightweight and muslins and other cotton fabrics from India and other Asian countries were in high demand.
1809 A Lady In Court Dress. From: 1809 A Book Explaining Ranks and Dignities in British Society. via Google Books (PD-180)
Definition Court Dress: Usually, the difference between a court dress and a ball dress was in the quality of fabrics used, how elaborate the design, and the number and quality of the accessories. Plus, in England in the early 1800s court dresses were required by Queen Charlotte to have hoops and in France and other European countries court dresses a long train, usually expensively decorated. During the Regency Era, white cotton dresses were considered suitable for many evening events, but definitely not for an evening event in a palace.
1809 A Lady In Court Dress. From: 1809 A Book Explaining Ranks and Dignities in British Society. via Google Books (PD-180)
Fashion Women 1805-1809 History Notes Book 26 What did Jane Austen and friends wear? This book looks at early 1800s fashions, which were elegant and pretty with high waists and fabrics that were almost transparent. These Empire style gowns, named after Napoleon’s first Empress, became popular throughout Europe, and were then copied around the world. Colorful outwear was added to make an ensemble more attractive and warmer.
1800 ca. White Muslin Gown, British. Empire Style, or high-waisted, gathered under bust to form softly falling skirt, long straight sleeves. Fabric from Bengal, India, made for European market. White cotton embroidered with white cotton thread. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk.
About 1800 Women’s dress changed dramatically after 1785. The rich fabrics and complicated, formal shapes of the late 18th century gave way to simple, light fabrics that draped easily. These new gowns achieved something of the effect of the simple tunics shown on classical Greek and Roman statues and vases, Muslin embroidered with cotton thread Fabric made in India, gown made in England Given by Miss Frances Vickers Museum no. 444-1888 (2013) Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
By the end of the 18th century, rigidly tailored garments for both men and women were replaced by styles made for ease and comfort, resulting in the neoclassical style of the 1780s. Inspired in part by the statuary of ancient Greece and Rome, the new fashion was epitomised by light cotton gowns falling around the body in an unstructured way, held around the high waist with a simple sash and accompanied by a soft shawl draped around exposed shoulders. This style was ideal for the Indian imports like Kashmiri shawls and Bengali muslin, as used in this embroidered gown. Championed by such influential figures as Emma Hamilton in England and Madame Récamier in France, the so-called ‘Empire’ style catapulted Indian muslin into the forefront of fashion.
Definition 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. Only the very wealthy could afford white dress in this style as the cottons were imported from India and had to be carefully cleaned, usually by a lady’s maid.
1820 Ball Gown of Embroidered Net, British. Silk satin and silk net embroidered with metal and trimmed with silk blonde bobbin lace, hand sewn. Short-sleeved ball gown comprising of an underdress of silk satin and an overdress of machine-made silk net embroidered with metal and trimmed with blonde bobbin lace. The dress has a low oval neckline, puffed short sleeves, a wedge shaped front bodice panel, and a medium high waist. The skirt has a central front panel, wedge shaped panels and the centre back panels are tightly gathered at the waist.
From the Museum Curator: ‘Women saved their most elaborate dresses for special occasions such as balls. Lavish gowns embellished with gold thread or sparkling beads glittered in the artificial light of the dancing room. Thin, gauzy materials created a soft dreamy look. These light materials also prevented the wearer from getting too hot while dancing in stuffy, overcrowded spaces’. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
19th cent. Early. Reticule, or Bag, of silk, metal and glass, French, as carried in Jane Austen’s times. Silk ribbon work, with rosy glass beads, and silver purl flowers and backgrounding to the wreath motif. via Metropolitan Museum, N.Y.C., U.S.A. metmuseum.org
Definition Reticule: 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.
1730-1760 ca. Yellow Silk Embroidered Bag, Russian. From: Collection of Natalia de Shabelsky (1841-1905), Russian noblewoman preserving vanishing folk art traditions of her country. Traveling extensively throughout Great Russia, she collected textile art of wealthy peasant class. via Metropolitan Museum, NYC.
18th Century bags, or purses, were usually designed to hang from the waist or wrist to carry essential daily items on the person rather than making the long walk back through a castle or grand house to fetch things like coins, personal seals, toiletries or medicines.
